A Bloodstone Rose
by obsidian dreamer
Summary: It should be a perfect time, but something isn't yet right from below the earth, a horror from time's dawn is calling, and one hero is powerless to resist. Continuation from The Best Medicine. COMPLETE but to be continued...
1. Default Chapter

**A Bloodstone Rose.**

Legality Check – Hmm, nope, still don't own any of these characters; I'm fairly sure they're still copyright Sega. This is the third in the loose 'series' of Sonic Fanfics that began with Angel of Darkness and Ice and continued with The Best Medicine; read them first if you want but I doubt knowing them is essential to follow this one. Just to make a few things clear:

"---" – Speech.

_Italics_ - Dreams/thoughts.

One with the show once more!

Prologue.

It existed as it had always done, entombed within its dreamless dream and sleeping its eternal vigil. It was not even alive as the term is defined; it did not breathe, it could not move and it certainly couldn't reproduce itself. How long it had remained in its current state it could not conceive as in its current state it had no means by which to deduce the passage of time; all it had were memories that flickered, over and over again. It saw vague, blurry faces within these bubbles of thoughts but mostly recalled sensations; elation, suffering, pain, always, always the everlasting pain, then the fracturing, the strange sense of being many things at once but none of them at the same time. It had been a god of war, a cold, logical mind, a lover, a thinker, a murderer but which one was it truly? Which one? It had forgotten its true identity over the eons of agelessness, the steady drift of dispassionate time uncaring as the being remained alone in the darkness. The overriding thought and pattern that had governed this being's limited actions had been a need to escape this tomb, recapture its lost glory. It had waited patiently for the opportunity to arise, had planned the options available to it and decided on the correct course of action. And just recently, the opportunity it had waited for far too long to appear had finally arisen.

Though it possessed no discernable organs of sense it could still feel the presence of other beings in close vicinity. It had never had much need of this ability to detect the minds of others before as nothing would venture down to its resting place, but then something had. A meeting of 'minds' had occurred and the receiving organism had been unknowingly seeded with a desire that would at some time in the future become irresistible. Rather than indifference now, the main 'feeling' within this being's vast and incomprehensible mindset could best be described as anticipation. Though the time scale was as yet undetermined, the being was certain of eventual escape; it felt no pressure from the passage of time and could afford to wait a little longer for release. Everything was eventual and freedom was forthcoming; the preformed thoughts the being had unleashed into the organism's mind were already beginning to unfold.


	2. Chapter 1 Christmas is Coming

A/N – I know it's about as far from Christmas as it's possible to get but I'm keeping within the timeline of my other two fics.

Chapter 1 – Christmas is Coming.

_She ran._

_Down, through the gaping maw that opened before her, swallowing her effortlessly as she ran to her goal, where she needed to be, where she needed to go. Down, down into the darkness she raced, not seeing the ground she trod upon but knowing her way instinctively. The way was forwards and down, down, incessantly down, into the bowels of the world and the unplumbed depths of the earth, pursuing her innermost need with no heed to other concerns. She was closing, the bale glow of victory awaited, around the corner shone a welcoming red light but her feet caught and she fell down, through the darkness…_

With a startled cry, Amy Rose sat up straight in bed, turbulent mind still encased in the dream that had seemed so real, causing her arms to shoot up and break her fall. She tensed herself for an impact that never arrived, peeking open one eye after a second of bracing, expecting to see hard ground rushing up to meet her. The sight of a dimly illuminated pink wall came as something of a surprise, as did the fact that she was already sat down on a comfortable bed, her light rose sheets scattered around due to her sudden struggling movements. As she reasserted herself she cast a glance at the alarm clock – 5:02. Amy let out a groan as she flopped back down onto her pillow; she still had two hours to go before her alarm went off but she wouldn't sleep again tonight. She ran her hands over her face and decided she was already awake; no point staying in bed. Kicking off the blanket fully, however, proved to be a mistake; the pink hedgehog barely managed to hold back a squeak of shock as the icy air in her bedroom enshrouded her. _I need to put the heating on_; gradually and shivering all the way, Amy managed to drag herself upright and out of bed, reaching for her dressing gown and quickly pulling it over her shoulders as insulation against the freezing air – it was a wonder she couldn't see her own frosty breath in front of her.

_Right, on three…three!_ With a rapid pounding of feet Amy sprinted across the lino of her hallway, the soles of her bare toes bitterly complaining that they were being forced to touch an ice rink. Holding towel in one hand and clothes and shoes in the other, it was an agonising five seconds of desperate hopping before she could manoeuvre one hand to open the door to the bathroom and dance inside, feet breathing a sigh of relief as they came into contact with the deep carpet. Turning the heat up a notch or two, Amy pressed the on button of her shower and, after testing the water with one hand, jumped right into the artificial waterfall of heated water.

As she reached for the shampoo the rose hedgehog frowned slightly; it was the same dream that had woken her twice already. _I'm running, and I feel like I'm going down at the same time, but towards what?_ That was the one piece of the puzzle Amy didn't know, but then again, that was the first time she'd ever seen that red glow at the end of the tunnel. As she hit the off button for the jet and grabbed the towel from of the radiator, Amy mused what it could mean – she wasn't one of these people who believed in dreams pointing the way to your destiny but she understood that waking up for the same reason three times smacked of something. After slipping her dress over her shoulder, she took a quick glance in the mirror and immediately reached for the hairbrush before her quills succeed in their aim of making her look like a gorgon; luckily they hadn't knotted up during her sleep and fell back into line with a minimum of fuss. When she was ready she reached for the last, and most recent, addition to her normal, everyday clothing.

The tiny stud gleamed dully in the light as she carefully lifted it up to her left ear, gingerly inserting it into the piercing slit without pricking the delicate skin of her inner ear and more importantly not dropping it again. She remembered the last time that had happened and the desperate scramble she'd had trying to catch it before it escaped down the sink plughole, a reluctant smile pulling at her lips as she remembered what Sonic had said about that little episode. Her piercing was recent and discreet; it wasn't a bold fashion statement or anything of that nature, it was just done because she was curious and as a present on her sixteenth birthday, only a few months before in October. It had stung for a few days but she'd kept it clean and it luckily hadn't become infected; by the end of the week she'd nervously and self-consciously shown her new ear stud to Shadow as he'd run up to her in the park.

_"Hey Ames, how are you doing?"_

_"Um, fine thanks, what about you?"_

_"I'm cool and so's Sonic, we're both looking forwards...", he leant towards her, peering downwards at her left ear, "is, is that a piercing?" Amy went red as her namesake and examined the floor as she replied,_

_"Yeah, I had it done on my sixteenth", she glanced up to see a calculating look on the ultimate life-form's face, "like it?"_

_"It's certainly different", he conceded before smiling, his red eyes glinting at her as he gently flicked her unpierced ear, "I think it suits you". She smiled back; the instrument of her revenge approaching fast from the stern of her friend._

_"And something that suits you is heading our way"; she sniggered as Shadow glanced over his shoulder, looked back and then did a fantastic double-take before yelping and leaping behind her, hands on her shoulders and thrusting her forwards as a Mobian shield._

_"Take the girl, take the girl but spare me!"_

_"You coward" Amy chuckled as the massive dog skidded to a halt at her feet and barked, sounding like all the world like a depth charge exploding as it pranced in front of her, trying to reach the elusive Shadow as he cringed away from the might of Akki._

_"Good dog", Amy scratched the Akita's muzzle as he sat down, waiting for his master to appear and, sure enough, the rose hedgehog could see the familiar short shape of Cinnamon running towards them, lead in on hand and shouting the name of her pet out loud._

She shook her head out of the memory and returned, somewhat grudgingly, to the present; she was dressed and ready but now needed something to eat and drink. Into the kitchen she meandered, flicking on the kettle as she reached up to open one of her cupboards. Just her luck to have the early shift this week when she couldn't sleep…

A short while later, a very familiar blue hedgehog was walking down one of Station Square's many roads towards the local mall. Yes, he was walking; he wished it were otherwise but if painful experience had taught him one thing it was that supersonic speeds and black ice really don't mix. Sonic wasn't a massive fan of winter due to all the snow and ice that stopped him running, but he tolerated it because of one thing; Christmas. Not the presents and all the decorations, although they were nice; he liked Christmas because it was one of the only times of the year the whole gang got together for a celebration; heck, even Knuckles would abandon his precious Emerald for a single day to be with them all. Speaking of which…Sonic fingered a small piece of paper and eventually drew it out into the light, squinting at it as he remembered what his mission of the day was. It was a list of names, most of which had ticks by the side of them but, to his mind, the important ones didn't have those ticks yet. _Hence why I'm up this early_; the blue wonder mentally reminded himself – he needed to buy and wrap Shadow's present before the black hedgehog got back for the Mystic Ruins, where he was currently being occupied by Tails and a mysterious glitch in the Tornado. Sonic smiled as he remembered the whispered conversation he'd had with his younger brother to take the black hedgehog out of the picture; the fact that he'd also buy Tails' present as well was just an added bonus.

"Hello, may I help you?"

"Sure, just ring this up for me please love", the human reached into his coat pocket as Amy quickly ran the items in the basket through the scanner, doing the mental maths to make sure the machine was totting the cost up right as she went along. Having loaded the food and newspaper into the plastic bags the hedgehog faced her customer.

"That's £12.46 please". The man held out a pair of bills, saying shortly,

"Four pence in the charity box please", she glanced up, "it's Christmas after all". Amy's nimble fingers ran through the cash box and hastily gripped the correct amount of change, slotting a pair of two pence pieces in the bright blue charity box. The human took his bags as she smiled at him,

"Thank you very much sir and a merry Christmas".

"And you". With that he was gone and Amy glanced over at the remainder of the shop. _Ah great, a bit of a lull_; the Mobian hopped off the box she stood on to enable her to see over the counter she was servicing and stretched her legs a little.

"Hey Si, give us a shout if…"

"Sure thing Ames", the teenager she shared the counter duty with gave a broad grin; as a new recruit to the store she was supposed to be at the till every minute of every hour but one of the first things you learned in this trade was how to sneak in a two second break. Amy smiled to herself – Si, or Simon as the boss insisted on calling him, was an ideal partner in crime due to his experience in these disreputable matters. The human had been at this job since he was Amy's age, saving up the cash necessary to get himself a car when he turned nineteen. She liked him because he was an easy going guy who knew the ropes and didn't mind doing a bit extra for her, just like she didn't mind shouldering a bit of his burden if he was having an off-day.

"Pie?" Si offered a mince pie from the small tray he had hidden under his cash register. Amy broke one in half and munched on it gratefully, giving him a sly wink as she ducked down, looking for the infamous 'rogue 2p'. Si finished his half and faced forwards again; next thing Amy knew there was an urgent whisper out the corner of his mouth.

"Quick, Chocky". Amy gulped down the rest of her mince pie with indecent haste as and straightened up just as Mr Cadbury, owner and proprietor of the Quick Stop Shop, edged into view. As Amy lifted herself onto the box that allowed her to see the rest of the store she raised her head into a blizzard of incoming fire.

"Well, well Ms Rose; glad you could turn up", the boss approached, the laid back look he always seemed to start the day with regarding her casually, "I was going to ring you; thought you'd turned in sick". Despite the seriousness of the situation Amy had to smile as she joked with her employer,

"No sir, just managed to drag myself here out the sickbed – can't let you down at Christmas can I?" Mr. Cadbury smiled as he tapped the desk she was stood behind,

"You wouldn't be the first; pie please Simon".

"Huh?" the human looked perplexed for a second.

"From the tray under the register my dear boy; I tell you all the time I know every trick in the book, including the greasy 2p excuse you were about to use Amy". Simon reluctantly pulled out his mince pies and offered them,

"You know every trick in the book sir, but my life's ambition is to write the sequel".

"Then you have a long life ahead of you", the boss remarked dryly before turning more serious, "it should be quiet for the morning but there should be a rush towards lunch time. I need to visit the other store today so you're in charge Simon; I expect everything to be ship-shape when I get back". Simon looked at his boss with a deadly serious air,

"You'll get nothing less Mr. Cadbury".

"Good lad, now I'll see you both later". Nodding at his employees the store owner stepped out the door and headed out for the malls private car park.

"Never misses a trick that man" Simon admitted as he replaced his plundered stash of succulent mince pies. Amy giggled a little at his forlorn face,

"Maybe it's a good thing", she pointed coyly at his slightly tight trousers, "maybe he's trying to tell you something". She ducked under her co-worker's cuff and shrugged off the threat of sweeping up at the end of the day as just a laugh from him. There was an influx of people into the store and the next half-hour was taken up by serving customers and brushing up on her mental arithmetic.

_Oh yes, perfect!_ Sonic saw it in the window and immediately knew it was the one – Tails would love a combination tool like that. The number of times he'd been under the Tornado and come out again, covered in oil stains and dust, just to fish a screwdriver out of his toolbox; well, this should stop that problem. Racing in and snapping it up, Sonic found himself left with the much thornier problem of what to buy for Shadow. He was tempted to go for a second diary for Shadow to recall his flashbacks on but, nah, that was too boring. Shadow had recently had a major breakthrough in his amnesia; he remembered fighting the Metal Overlord and the cause of his accident, and deserved something cool to commemorate it. _But what though – Shads is just a normal guy now, doesn't seem to do too much bar run and work_; Sonic felt frustrated as he couldn't see what to buy his friend at Christmas. Sighing and keeping his eye on the time, Sonic set off to circumnavigate the mall again.

Amy had just scooted around the front of the two man counter to clear away the empty trays when Si spoke up, looking through the window to the side of him,

"Hey Ames, isn't that Sonic?" At the mention of her hero's name the pink hedgehog's head snapped up, eyes wide and child-like as she glanced around hungrily. Yes, he co-worker had been right; the blue blur was crossing in front of the Quick Stop, heading for what looked like an outfitters, a look of mild curiosity on his handsome face. Amy cast a pleading glance towards Simon and, with a light smirk on his face he gave an encouraging nod. Feeling equal parts nervous and excited, Amy called over,

"Hey Sonikku".

_Amy! Evasive manoeuvres!_ Sonic leapt forwards, spinning in the direction of the shout as he expected a full on bear hug attack from nowhere. What he actually got was both completely the opposite and entirely welcome; rather than haring towards him at a flat-out sprint, Amy was waving from the doorway of a small shop that was part of the food and comestibles branch of the mall. _Oh yeah, I forgot she's got a job now_; Sonic noticed the light green uniform and black trousers Amy was wearing as her uniform and, feeling much more relieved now he realised he wouldn't need a crowbar to prise her grip loose, waved back and headed for the Quick Stop Shop.

"Hey Ames, so this is the new job huh?" The younger Mobian swept her gaze behind her before looking at him again and smiling,

"Yep, this is it; I work three days a week here and I love it" she proclaimed proudly as Sonic suddenly remembered something Shadow had mentioned; he wasn't quite as tall as the black hedgehog so gently leaned up on tip-toe to see for himself.

"Hmm, Shads was right", as Amy looked a little perplexed he explained, "the piercing, it suits you".

"Thanks, but anyway, can't talk for long – what are you doing here so early?"

"Looking for something to get Shadow for Christmas", Sonic smiled ruefully as Amy rolled her eyes; she knew Sonic well enough to realise that he always left important things like Christmas shopping until the last minute; she usually had hers done by mid-August, "any ideas?"

"Well", _I can sympathise; he's not the easiest guy to buy for_; the pink hedgehog knitted her brows, "I just got him some of that nice shampoo he loves; I know!" Sonic looked up sharply as Amy clapped her hands, "he likes coffee, try and get him some different, exotic brands". _Praise the Lord and halleluiah; she's done it_; the blue hedgehog slapped a paw to his forehead as the blinding simplicity struck him.

"Amy, you're a genius", he put a hand on her shoulder and smiled whole-heartedly, "cheers; I'll just get some, oh thank you". He took off into the mall, shouting over his shoulder that he'd call back later and thanks again.

"You've gone pink". Amy wandered back into the Quick Stop in a daze; Sonic had complimented her new jewellery and they'd had a conversation without some kind of calamity happening. She scowled up at Simon as he looked at her slightly off-kilter; he knew she had hopeless feeling for Sonic and often offered tips on what, in his mind, Sonic as a guy might want. His help had been instrumental in her finally breaking her habit of chasing the blue blur all over the city; as he had told her in no uncertain terms, that was a sure-fire way of freaking him out.

"Newsflash, I've always been pink".

"Really", the human pointed down at the hedgehog's reflection in the clear plastic shield surrounding his register, "I've never seen fluorescent pink fur before". Amy smiled as she retook her normal position,

"You're a nightmare, you know that?"

"Proud of it".

"Anyway, thanks a lot". Si gently buffeted her shoulder,

"No sweat Ames; you do the same for me when I need a cig break". Amy wrinkled her nose at this; if Simon had one characteristic she didn't like it was the fact he smoked; the pink hedgehog knew no-one was perfect but she really wished he'd quit the habit. _Still, he's a nice guy and he really helped me get to grips with the basics of this job_; as more customers came in Amy threw off any thoughts she had on Si's unfortunate collection of little filtered friends and returned to her job.

_Chocolate, caramel, urgh, strawberry coffee? Who comes up with this sort of stuff?_ Sonic spied an interesting jar of what was labelled 'Marching Coffee' and, piqued by the name, read the label. After a split-second he added it to his tray – anything with that much coco in it had to be worth it; that should do the trick. Sonic glanced down at the three jars he now held and decided to head for the checkout. He needed to quickly buy these and then head for home, he should easily have enough time to wrap these up and get them hidden. As he received his change and headed for the door he was struck by an epiphany. _Well she did just help me out so, yeah, yeah that's perfect – someone's finally admitting the truth – not you again; read my lips; SHE IS A FRIEND – okayyyy…_ Sonic wrestled with his conscience for a second and then finally made up his divided mind. The trip home could wait for a few minutes while he made a quick stop.

As the working day finally drew to a close, Amy gratefully stretched to her full height and smoothed out her quills as much as was possible without a hairbrush that was specially built to withstand Mobian hedgehog spikes. Si glanced at the battered clock hanging behind him and shot her a sideways glance.

"Take a stock count Ames, I'll handle any customers. It'll get us done a bit quicker tonight". The hedgehog nodded and, after quickly assuring herself the shop was fairly empty following the five o'clock storm, headed into the tiny store-room. She tapped her access code into the small key pad and waited for the tiny click that let the door be pushed open, allowing Amy to enter the small space where all the goods to be stacked onto shelves were stored. Swiftly gripping the clipboard and attached pen from the top of a stack of boxes, Amy began the meticulous process of cataloguing what goods they had, what goods needed replenishing and what items had run out completely. _Plenty of cereal, need a bit more ice-cream_, Amy had to smile at this; Cream would give her right arm to see this place and get her jaws around the Quick Stop's supply of ice-cream, _and…huh?_ Something flickered in the corner of her eye and she turned to face it; she had to blink as she saw a tiny rose glow pulsating in the dark crevasse between two stacks of bulky boxes containing between them a selection of biscuits and savoury pork pies. Amy focused on the shimmering shape, fascinated as it hovered at the end of its dark passageway. The more she looked at it, the clearer it seemed to become; it slowly expanded, beginning to fill her vision as a great red cloud, swirling gradually with a vague, solid shape at the epicentre. It was hard to pick it out but there was something there, something familiar, she could almost recognise…

"Amy!" The hedgehog jumped nearly a foot at the sudden shout, jerking her head around to see Simon looking at her with equal parts concern and fascination. The glow was gone as though it had never existed, but it had been there, she would have sworn blind on it.

"Ames, you feeling okay?" _What was that thing; I know it, I've seen it before…oh Si, sorry!_

"Yes", she shook her head slightly as she tried to put the scene into Si's perspective, "yeah I'm fine; sorry I was miles away". Si chortled, but she could tell there was an element of doubt in his mind as he replied.

"Just as well; any longer I'd have called a search party. Want to swap – I'll do this you serve?"

"Nah, thanks for the offer though", she put his mind at ease with her traditional victory pose, "I always finish what I start, though I occasionally need a little help to do it".

"Amen to that".

"You cheeky…get outta here before I decide to call Hammer Time". The rose hedgehog watched as Si beat a hasty retreat; he'd seen from her practising on a couple of empty cans what Amy could do with her Piko Piko hammer and decided not to offer himself as the next practise dummy. When the door to the store room slid shut again, Amy let her face fall and tried to recount what exactly what had happened. _A red glow at the end of a tunnel – just like my dream_; as she continued her report on the state of the Qucik Stop's stocks, her mind was in overdrive – something was weighing on her mind and she didn't know exactly what it was. _No point worrying now, I'll just get people worried; it can wait until after Christmas, then I'll think about it more_; she nodded, that was the right thing to do. Thrusting all thoughts of strange red lights and long dark tunnels out her mind she threw herself back into her job, thinking instead of how the festive season was just around the corner and how she'd be able to see everyone again.

Deep within its subterranean catacomb the being felt its recipient mind reach out for it, the first fluttering of conscious reaction to the subconscious implantation, but the motion was checked. Though it could not move or express its reaction to this development, there was a single feeling around its chamber – progress was being made.

A/N: I'm dreadfully sorry but this has to be said; there won't be an update on this story for at least six weeks due to the dreaded finals rapidly approaching. With all the revision needed and general worrying I won't be able to put the effort into this fic, so I'm putting it on hold for a while. Sorry peeps, but it has to happen.


	3. Chapter 2 Cookery Classes and Conversati...

Chapter 2 – Cookery Classes and Conversation.

A/N: A word to all the people who've reviewed all my fics – THANK YOU ALL! However, just to re-inforce the point, the three I've written so far should be read in the following order to make the maximum amount of sense:

Angel of Darkness and Ice  The Best Medicine  A Bloodstone Rose.

KatyRose – Yes this is a SonAmy BUT Shadow will find someone special in one of the continuation fics after this (he's too cool to go without an equally cool girlfriend!)

Amy quickly forgot about the incident in the store room as Christmas rapidly approached; she had her mind focussed on the 25th of December, when all her friends would gather together at Vanilla's large house and just celebrate the events of the past year. As the eve of the days passed slowly, frustratingly slowly in the eyes of children (and big kids) everywhere, an already awesome situation somehow improved beyond all reason.

_Ohh, my poor feet_; Amy was curled up on her settee, slowly wiggling her toes as she relaxed in just her slippers and dressing gown. The Christmas rush had most definitely begun; the Quick Stop had been inundated all day and she had been simply rushed off her feet. Even her thirty minute lunch break had been cut down to five; as Chocky and Si had pointed out, at this time of year it was a case of eat-and-work simultaneously. As the young hedgehog stretched back on her furniture and reached for the television remote the phone suddenly rang, the shrill note of discord shattering the piece of her quiescent resting state. Heaving herself upright, Amy crossed the room and massaged her tired eyes as she spoke,

"Hello?"

"Hey Amy, how was work?" The hedgehog stood slightly straighter; she recognised the bubbly voice on the other end and wondered what Tails was doing calling her at this hour.

"Oh hi Tails; work's good, but it's a bit tiring", before she could elaborate she heard the fox's voice break off into a giggle,

"Well, what would you say if I told you I knew something to cheer you right up?"

"I'd be interested", the phone was put slightly closer to her ear as Amy's interest was piqued, "what did you managed to dig up this time?"

"You'll never guess". Amy was grateful Tails couldn't see her smile as she tried to sound impatient.

"Spit it out foxboy".

"No, you have to guess". _This must be huge; Tails normally doesn't play games like this_; she was desperate to know, but that didn't mean she was going to play the game by Tails' rules.

"Miles Prower, if you don't tell me this instant I'll come over to the Mystic Ruins, strap you into a chair and force you to sit through a lovey-dovey chick flick marathon, with no bathroom breaks or popcorn".

"Mercy", the fox had his limits, "alright I give; sit down though, you aren't going to believe this". Amy carried the phone to her settee and flumped down into it, imagination going into overdrive as she tried to picture what her friend had managed to find out.

"Okay, I'm sat".

"Good", the undercurrent of excitement became a raging storm, "Twinkle Park is holding a special Boxing Day bash called the Winter Wonderland, and cute couples get in free!" The phone fell from a nerveless hand as Amy gasped in shock.

"Could, could you repeat that please?" _It couldn't be true, Tails must have misheard…_

"Told you it was big", Tails dropped his voice to a sudden conspiratorial whisper, "I didn't believe it at first either, but it's true. They haven't announced it officially yet, but I've got my ear to the floor. First chance I get I'm signing us all in". Amy felt her heart skip a beat as she exclaimed,

"I'm with Sonic right", _hang on a second, yeah, it's the right thing to do_; her voice fell a bit, "does he know about it?"

"Yeah, he knows; he suggested we all sign up, and yes, he'll go with you for this".

"YAHOOO!" Amy sprang up and punched the air, celebrating two dreams coming true at once. It didn't even register that Tails as still on the other end of the phone until a tiny voice shouted in her ear,

"Amy, come in Amy Rose you're time is up; are you receiving?"

"Wha', oh sorry Tails", she regained a modicum of self-control and the ability to communicate again as the sheer high of euphoria wore off fractionally, "so who else is going?"

"Err, just a sec", the fox scratched the side of his head for a second; he should have made a list of who he'd rung, "yeah, that's right; you and Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge said they'd come and, heh, you'll never guess who Shadow's partnered with".

"Who?" _I hope he's found a special girl at last; he deserves one after all he's been through_; the answer, however, threw her completely for a loop.

"Vanilla". Tails bit his lip as the disbelief was tangible even through the phone.

"Vanilla? As in Cream's mum?"

"The one and only; don't worry though", Tails was quick to put her mind at ease, "nothing's going on – they both really want to go and this is the best way for them to get in without paying".

"Right, but", _got you this time foxboy_, "you sneaky little puffball you".

"What?"

"You're going with Cream aren't you?" Amy carried on before he could protest, "getting Shadow to take her mum out of the picture then propositioning her, oh how romantic". _Argh, she's never going to let me forget this; only one thing for it_.

"One more word out of you and you're walking to Vanilla's on December 25th", Tails gritted his teeth, "and yes, but she invited me". The only thing that surprised the young genius was the fact his receiver hadn't melted due to his blush as Amy laughed.

"Don't worry, I'll keep a secret – finished all your shopping yet?"

"Yeah, all done, but if you get a lump of coal in your stocking after that comment don't come running to me".

"Goodnight Tails; oh remember to pop in and see me if you get a minute – the Quick Stop Shop in Broadwall Mall".

"I'll remember; not long now".

"Counting the days; see you soon M.P".

"Bye". There were simultaneous clicks as a pair of telephones were set back down, just before Amy leapt into the air with a great yell of pure joy. She was going to Twinkle Park with all her friends, Sonic had agreed to be her partner for the day and just to top it all off, she'd have enough money from the extra she'd get for working over the Christmas period that she'd be able to make it a real day out. She was so excited it took her a long time to sleep that night, but when she did it was deep, refreshing and untroubled.

True to his word, Amy had her next day at work brightened by a visit from Sonic's younger brother. Tails waited patiently for the crowd to disperse and approached the till during a relatively quiet period.

"Hey, is Amy here today?" The human looked over the counter as all he could see from his position was possibly the tips of the fox's ears.

"Oh, yeah, just a sec", glancing around to assure himself that no customers were forthcoming save Tails himself, Si sauntered into the stock room, "Ames, someone for you; take the till while I help Chocky with the restock". _Sonic? Not like him to drop in a place like this…oh, good old Tails_; Amy beamed broadly as the fox waited patiently at the till.

"Hi Tails, let me take that".

"Got the good news", the fox confirmed as she ran the chocolate bar he'd held through the scanner, "we're all down on the list; on the 26th, all Twinkle Park is belong to us". Amy gave her victory pose while deftly avoiding tumbling off her box as Tails looked suitably proud of himself.

"Tails, I love you forever; how in the name of all that's holy did you find that out?"

"Just a question of being in the right place at the right time", the fox leaned closer on the pretence of purchasing his sweet, "and I spoke to your hero this morning; he's over the moon and he can't wait for next week". The kit remembered something else as Amy's soul decided to party on down; this was the best news she'd had in possibly her whole life.

"Yeah, you've got tomorrow off haven't you?"

"Yep, not in tomorrow; why, did you want something?" The kit smiled broadly and shook his head in a resigned fashion.

"No, not me directly, but Shadow does", _what could he need_; Amy looked a little concerned, so when Tails told her it was all she could do to keep a straight face, "he wants a bit of guidance in the kitchen area; he has no idea what to try and make for Vanilla's Christmas dinner".

Though Vanilla had agreed to house them all for the special celebration, Cream had confided in Amy, her 'big, friendly sister', that her mum had been a little worried about the amount of food she'd have to make for the occasion. Amy had fretted about this; Vanilla was being big-hearted enough to allow them all to share her home, it wasn't fair that she should have to cater for them as well. The brainwave had come at about three in the morning, having just been woken from a claustrophobic dream by a wrong numbered phone call; each should bring his own. The rose hedgehog had quickly thrashed out a deal that ensured Vanilla wouldn't be lumbered with the massive shopping bill or clean-up job. Every Mobian invited to the rabbit's home had been instructed to pre-prepare something to eat that they could all share – it was a brilliant idea that everyone had been in favour of, especially Vanilla and her daughter, who had envisioned the size of the washing up pile and nearly fainted dead away. The one tiny flaw in this idea was that not everyone was a whiz in the kitchen department; Shadow had a strict curfew that meant anything more adventurous than beans on toast needed supervision; a precaution necessary to prevent a repeat of the 'world's smallest A-bomb' as Sonic had delicately put it.

"Tell the master of disaster I'll see him tomorrow; I'll find a recipe even he can follow", Amy had to laugh as she remembered the aftermath of the A-bomb and how long it had taken the pair to clean the kitchen, the lounge and part of the hallway as well, "what about you?"

"Oh, I'm sorted; going for something a little bit special this time though – a mixed vegetable pie with sweet macaroni and custard sauce pudding to finish".

"Macaroni pudding?"

"Tastes divine I promise you".

"I'll take your word for it". At that precise second both Mobians heard a shout from the shop floor; both looked over to see Mr. Cadbury raising an eyebrow at the duo's extended conversation.

"Ms Rose, what is the company policy on flirting with customers?" Amy blushed slightly as Tails pocketed the snack he'd brought and called back,

"She's in love with my elder brother, not me".

"Then tell your elder brother not to distract my workforce". Tails waved, smiled at Amy and then departed the shop, leaving Amy positively buzzing with happiness; it was not two weeks away, everything was ready as it could get and tomorrow she'd get to play teacher with Shadow and probably Sonic as well.

_Running again, never ceasing, always in motion, the tunnel stretching forwards and onwards and as ever it led down. Racing on, heedless of the darkness uncaring of the cold, ploughing on, nothing could come between her and her goal. The red light was just visible, barely able to be seen and, her feet caught again and she tumbled, hearing only a low, dull rumble as she fell away into nothingness._

"_Heeeeellllllppppp, mmmmmmmeeeeeeee"._

Sweat rolled off Amy as she suddenly sat straight up in bed, gasping in panic as the dark dream fled away from her conscious mind. She held her head in her hands, shivers not only due to the chill in the winter air as she tried to remember what had passed in her sleeping state. _A voice, calling for help; does someone need aid_; Amy's mind was troubled as fatigue gripped hold of her and she sank back down into bed, eyes creeping closed even as she tried to piece together what it could all mean. Within ten more minutes she was asleep in a more restful sleep, nearly forgetting the bad dream as in her mind she raced towards Christmas and the joy it would bring.

The next day, Sonic answered the door to his apartment with a mournful expression, looking for all the world like one of his close family had passed away as Amy stepped inside, cook book in hand and page indicated with a book mark. Shadow was waiting in the kitchen, hands washed and apprehensive as Amy set the dread book down and took a deep breath, trying to ignore Sonic as he whistled the Last Post just to annoy Shadow.

"Okay Shads, I've found something relatively simple that should work just fine. You're ready to go and soon we'll be able to see if you can nail this cooking for good". Sonic cut in,

"You mean by the end of this he'll be able to boil water without getting lumps in it?" The black hedgehog growled and shot back,

"This from the man who needs a recipe for ice-cubes".

"Stop it you two", Amy shut them both up with a meaningful glance; she knew they were only teasing each other like they always did but she was nearly as nervous as Shadow; someone could have strung her nerves up and played them like a violin at the minute. Shadow was looking even worse and in a second Amy decided he needed something to sugar the pill. Turning to the blue blur, she made one of her famous decrees,

"Sonic, you better hope he gets it right; you're going to be tasting it. Now follow me; shout if you need any help Shadow; good luck and don't panic". The blue hedgehog went white and immediately fell in line as the pair left the kitchen. Steeling himself, Shadow opened the recipe book and scanned the page. He took a long look at the recipe, carefully set the oven to the correct temperature, took a deep breath and started.

Amy and Sonic sat together in the lounge as small sounds of industry filtered through from the kitchen; the odd clunk, thud and occasional expletive as Shadow wrestled and fought to follow the recipe exactly and not make any mistakes. Amy was keeping an ear out in case he needed a hand while Sonic busied himself with a piece of paper. _Wow, it's been twenty minutes and he hasn't shouted yet, hope he's okay_; Amy had her eye on the door that joined kitchen and lounge when Sonic tapped her on the shoulder and offered his piece of paper.

"Sign this please".

"Err, what is it?" Amy swept her eyes down and caught the general gist before Sonic could even begin to reply; she shoved the blue hedgehog and hissed,

"Sonic that's mean even for you – Shadow's doing the best he can and all you do is take the mickey out of him for it".

"He'd do the same if it was me", Sonic stopped suddenly as he saw the look of scorn mixed with disappointment Amy was regarding him with and faltered. _Maybe she's right; that's a bit low_; he crumbled the swift will he'd written into a ball and threw it towards the bin with a sigh.

"Yeah, I guess you're right".

"Really?" The last person who'd been expecting that from Sonic was Amy herself; in all the time she'd chased him and known him, the blue blur had never, ever abandoned the light life-is-a-game tempo he lived by. _What gives – Sonic being serious for a change?_

"Yeah", Sonic didn't notice her exclamation as he put his feet up on the low coffee table, "at least he's actually thought about what to make for Christmas; I thought I had it made until I realised how many people are actually going to be there – I don't think I can make chilli-dogs enough for nine".

"So, so what are you going to do instead?"

"I'll think about it; worst come to worst I'll bug Shadow enough to let me work with him and come up with a team effort". Sonic smiled reluctantly at Amy's flabbergasted expression; somehow that just hadn't gone in right – Sonic was going to ask to work with someone?

"Are you feeling alright", she sniggered a little and quickly put her hand on his forehead, "oh no, it's got a toe hold, there's no hope".

"Oh no doctor, don't pull any punches", _just play along to keep her sweet – you're enjoying this – no, I'm…er, well, perhaps a bit – there's hope for you yet_, "what's the diagnosis?"

"It's, it's, I can't say it!"

"I can take it like a man, spit it out".

"It's the dreaded humility", she carried on before Sonic could remember exactly what humility was, "the bane of big-headed heroes the world over; I'm sorry Sonic but it's got you, there nothing I can do". _You cheeky little…revenge imminent!_

"Argh, my brain, it's infecting my mind", Sonic put both hands on his head and reeled as though someone had hit him with a two-by-four, "I can feel, it burns, it burns, ah it's got me", he turned back to Amy as the rose hedgehog felt a shiver run up her spine, "destroy all Amy". He suddenly lunged towards her and she squealed in mock-fear.

"Sonic no, it's me!" _He's gonna get me for that; I regret nothing!_

"Sonic, is, no, more", the blue hedgehog spoke in a monotone as he moved to inflict a hideous revenge, "I, can't, stop, this". He quickly rushed his hands into her quills and gave a vicious set of rubs, withdrawing with a laugh as Amy realised he'd completely messed her hair up.

"Why you rotten sod, you've ruined my hair do", she folded her arms and slumped backwards, face like thunder as Sonic laughed, "I'm not talking to you any more".

"Aww, poor little Amy's so cute when she's angry". _Don't smile, don't smile_; Amy forced herself to look surly as Sonic realised what her game was and moved to counter it – it was a game he was the master of and hadn't lost yet.

"You're going to smile". Amy's lips twitched and Sonic grinned inside; she was hopeless at trying to stay angry with anything.

"Yes you are". _No, I can't help it, I'm gonna…rats!_ She snorted with a quiet laugh, façade of surliness reduced to ruin as Sonic gave a victory sign.

"Dammit, I can't stay angry with you; you make fun of everything".

"Isn't that why you like me?"

"One reason", _go for it_, she scooted over to be closer to him on the couch, "why, do you like me?"

_Say it, she's just delivered it to you on a platter, what more do you want – no, I can't, not now – why, for the love of all that's holy why? – it, it's just not right yet_; Sonic cleared his throat and, try as he might, couldn't quite bring himself to meet Amy's eye as she looked at him slyly. He settled on a compromise,

"Maaaaaaybe". Amy stuck her tongue out and challenged,

"Don't make me do a Rouge on you". Sonic sprang to the defensive as memories of that unforgettable day on Angel Island flashed back in his mind.

"You wouldn't dare".

"Try me". The blue hedgehog glared at her harshly as he flexed his fingers as a warning,

"You wouldn't dare because you're much more vulnerable than I am, and don't try to deny it; I remember that summer barbeque where Shadow broke you into pieces". _Ah, okay, he's got me there; retreat with pride and sanity intact_.

"Alright, you got me; that was a bluff".

"Just as well, I'd hate to alarm the neighbours with your squealing for mercy; I'd probably have the police on my door looking for the body…"

"Shush", Amy waved a hand at him as something wafted in from the kitchen, "you smell that?" Sonic took a deep sniff and his mouth started watering; whatever Shadow had done in there it smelt like heaven. He quickly stood up and helped her to her feet, leading her back into the kitchen as the delicious scent swirled around them and led the way.

"Hey guys", Shadow risked a glance over his shoulder and saw the two enter the room, "set the table; I'll dish this up in a second". Sonic quickly emptied the cupboards of their condiments as Amy peered over the black hedgehog's shoulder,

"Did it go alright?"

"Fine, the recipe was easy to follow and I reckon I've cooked it for long enough, oh, one thing though", Shadow prodded a piece of meat slightly separate within the pan of meat cutlets and vegetables he was frying, "get Sonic to try that bit; he complained about my cooking so he's going to see just how bad it can be".

"What did you do to it?"

"Just a pinch of extra salt". Amy shook her head, nodded and swiftly took a fork from the draw, calling over to him as she expertly speared the indicated morsel.

"Hey Sonikku, take a mouthful of this". Slowly and with greatly exaggerated reluctance the blue hedgehog sidled forwards, face the very epitome of anxiety and apprehension.

"If I don't survive, I leave everything to Tails". Shadow's shoulder's shook as Amy tried to act angry; Sonic deserved a trick like this to prick his ego a little,

"Shadow worked hard on this and in my eye it's mouth-watering". She fed the blue hedgehog the chunk of meat and chortled as his face seemed to shrink in on itself; the salted meat soured the hedgehog's tongue as he choked it down.

"And in my mouth it's eye-watering", he sucked on his tongue to try and get some saliva back in his mouth, "I think your hand slipped with the salt Shads".

"No, that was deliberate", the ebon hedgehog turned to face him and grinned triumphantly as Sonic looked on in disbelief, "you made fun of my cooking, well my cooking made fun of you Sonic". _That was good, never even suspected that_; Sonic was impressed by the sneakiness of the trick and sighed,

"You child; luckily I'm too mature to deign to try and return a…" he looked up from his martyr act at the sound of laughter from the other two hedgehogs, "what?"

"Mature Sonic", Amy giggled as Shadow held himself steady enough to pour the broth he'd made into three bowls, "that's about as likely as a slim Eggman". Sonic sniffed snootily as he somehow gave a hammy act with a completely straight face.

"You're both just jealous of my cool head and adult nature", Amy and Shadow were breaking down by now; Sonic had a gift for turning an innocuous joke into an article of utter hysteria and was exercising it to the max right now, "the fact I always do the right, mature thing to do is lost on a pair of infants such as yourselves".

"Mercy", Shadow choked as he set the pan back down unsteadily before he lost control of it completely, "no more Sonic, we've got to eat now". _Yeah, I better not; the oven's still hot and if something spills I'll have to clear up_; Sonic gave one last sneer as he reached for his food bowl, carrying it carefully back to the table. As the three ate, they all hastily came to a conclusion – Shadow had not just broken his cookery jinx, he'd sundered it to pieces and ground the pieces to dust. By the time Amy had to return to her place, Sonic had convinced Shadow that his broth combined with some of his patented chilli-dogs would prove to be a knock-out for the Christmas meal.

As Sonic cleared up the remnants of the cooking, Shadow walked Amy back to her apartment; the shorter days meant that the streets were dark by this time and neither male Mobian would have been able to live with themselves if anything had happened to Amy on her trip home. As the two walked, Shadow suddenly smirked,

"I heard that you know". Amy had a pretty good idea what he was on about and smiled back as she ran the conversation she'd shared with Sonic back in her head,

"Yeah, we can talk a lot more freely these days and he doesn't seem to mind me as much as he used to".

"Amy, he never minded you", Shadow chortled at her amazed expression, "he thought the way you always ran after him and bugged him all the time was annoying, but he never actually minded having you around as a friend; it was when you started talking about romance and commitment he started getting edgy. Haven't you noticed that since you stopped he's reacted?"

"Yeah I noticed", Amy smiled and mentally made a note to buy Si a bigger present for Christmas, "my workmate helped me get rid of that chasing thing, said it would freak Sonikku out". _A truer word was never spoken – it freaked me out too_; Shadow hid a smile as Amy daydreamed about her hero. The black hedgehog was grateful to Amy as she had been a real asset in him trying to conquer the mental forgetfulness that still dogged him; he thought of her as his younger cousin – sister was too strong a word for his feelings towards her. He let his mind slip back; this would be the first Christmas he'd be able to remember and, as he watched the stars twinkle overhead, he realised it was going to go like a dream.

"Goodnight Amy, have a good day at work tomorrow".

"I will Shads; goodnight and tell Sonic the same. That was a good meal as well Shadow – par excellence if you ask me". The black hedgehog gave a thumbs-up as Amy disappeared inside her apartment block, waving from the warm interior as he turned away, mind mulling things over – _I gave Knuckles and Rouge a nudge in the right direction; wonder if I should do the same here, or should I just leave this one alone and let them realise the truth in their own time?_ Shadow mused as he walked along the frosty streets before deciding – he knew Amy loved Sonic deeply and was ninety-nine percent certain he felt the same way. It was just a question of the right time; the right conditions occurring that would cause both to admit feelings for the others. In later years Shadow would look back on this night and realise he had been partially right; however, he would have been the first to admit the conditions he had in mind were nothing like those that actually came to pass.

A/N: Revision, too much revision – mind going into meltdown, brain imploding, writing fanfictions eases the pain. So much for the six-week promise; hope this is still good.


	4. Chapter 3 The Gang Reunited

Chapter 3 – The Gang Reunited.

A/N: Yay, more reviews. As always, time for a few choice words before the chapter starts:

Sonicron – Glad you enjoyed this and The Best Medicine; hope the schoolwork eases up to let you catch AODAI sometime soon (my personal favourite because it's got Nack in it).

Ri2 – What is it you ask; well I could tell you, but I doubt you'd believe me; this story's going to be a ground shaker.

"Okay you two, time up", Chocky took his eye off the battered work clock and wiped his forehead with a calloused hand, "log yourselves out and get ready to go". Amy and Si shared a high five under the counter as they quickly punched their log out codes into the tills, shutting the systems down as they prepared to leave. The last few tiny tasks were quickly finished off and soon the both teens were stood in front of their employer as he drew a pair of brown paper envelopes from his trouser pockets. He presented them with one each,

"Here's your Christmas pay; thank you both for the help and the excellent jobs you both did. See you both after the New Year; now Merry Christmas and off you go".

"Thanks Mr Cadbury" both chorused, waving as they left the shop – they managed to get as far as the end of the mall isle before starting the celebration; Si reached down and hugged the smaller hedgehog and she pecked him on the cheek as he set her down.

"Thanks a lot for the help Si; I'd never have been able to hack the job if you hadn't helped me out".

"Don't do yourself down Ames", the human chuckled as he pocketed his money and led the way towards the mall exit, "you're smart enough to get on with a job like that no worries".

"Flatterer", the pink hedgehog jogged slightly to keep up, "what are you doing for Christmas?"

"Big family thing; getting together with everyone at my uncle's place – he lives in the country so I got a lift home tonight. What about you?" _Almost the same thing I reckon._

"My friend's mum agreed to house all of us for the big day, so we're all taking our prezzies and something to eat over there".

"Who's going?" The human looked mildly curious – he knew Amy had a large number of friends and she'd told him about their adventures together just to relieve the boredom of long, quiet stretched behind the till. Amy mentally recounted the list, ticking off on her fingers to ensure she wouldn't miss anyone.

"It's Vanilla's house, so Cream and her will be there; then there's me, Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Knuckles and Rouge, I don't think you've met that pair yet and", she counted eight fingers and frowned, racking her brain, "hang on, I've missed someone, err, oh Big too, he's the ninth". Si whistled,

"Quite a gathering then – Vanilla's gonna have her hands full with that lot", Si looked forwards as the exit came closer; "fancy a ride home?" Amy looked a little shocked at this,

"Err, no ta; I wouldn't want to…"

"You place is on the way home", the teen smiled dangerously and stretched his arms wide, "you're taking a lift if I have to carry you into the car". Amy smiled back in an equally devil-may-care attitude and rolled her eyes upwards,

"You wouldn't…yipe!" Next thing she knew she was slung over the human's shoulder with her arms pressed firmly into her sides, "you cheat; put me down!"

"You know me Ames; I always make good on me promises".

"Let me down and give me a chance to grab my hammer". She felt a sudden drop in temperature and realised she'd been carried outside,

"No way, I've seen what you can do with that thing; hi mum, this is Amy Rose my co-worker, we're dropping her off on the way home". As he lowered her to the floor she sighed,

"You are still a nightmare".

"The Nightmare before Christmas?"

"The one and only".

"Proud of it". He popped the door open and let her step into the warm interior of the car; despite herself Amy smiled up at him as he clambered in the other side; _I'm so lucky to have friends like these_.

It was very late that night when Amy was finally able to nod off – she'd been preparing all the food she needed to get ready for tomorrow and carefully moving all the presents she needed to take to Vanillas' into a large bag that could be safely carried in the boot of the Tornado. She was out like a light almost before her head touched the pillow.

_"Heeeeeeeeellllllllpppppp, mmmmmeeeeeee". She tried to speak, tried to move her lips but failed as the rose light pulsed from around the final, hairpin corner._

_"Allllooonnnnneee, toooooooo, loooooonnnnnggg", she managed to glance upwards, towards the source of the sound, the ever-present bale redness filling her vision, "ssssssseeeeeeaaallllleddd awwwaaaay". Why, what are you – She couldn't speak, couldn't stop as the scene receded, fell away…_

"Ahh", _I'm in bed; the same dream again!_ Amy shook her head both in anger and concern – too much more of this and she'd need professional help to cope. Fortunately, this one had come at near enough the right time; her alarm would have gone off in another two minutes. As she slowly came to and remembered the new words she'd heard, Amy began to feel faint senses of danger and apprehension – something needed her help and seemed to be trying to contact her through her dreams and, she remembered the vision she'd had in the Quick Stop storeroom, other means as well. She washed and dressed mechanically as she tried to think of what to do next; she didn't want to tell the others, at least not yet but the longer she left it the more chance there was of these dreams getting worse. _Not now, not this close to tomorrow_; with a determined exhalation Amy looked squarely at the ingredients she'd laid out in the kitchen the night before and ploughed right into them. The recipe was long and in depth but she followed it to the letter, making no mistake and succeeding in her aim of taking her mind of the nightmares plaguing her.

"What do you reckon?" Sonic took a sip from the serving spoon and sloshed the brew across his taste buds, a thoughtful look on his face.

"A little more pepper, but apart from that it's as good as it's gonna get, at least without some chopped-up chilli-dogs that is". Shadow turned the heat down slightly as Sonic carefully fished the sizzling dogs out of the frying pan and set on them with a sharp knife, cutting them into thin slices prior to addition to Shadow's cowboy casserole.

Tails stepped back from his oven as there was a blast of steam from the moist interior; the smell of his nicely crusted vegetarian pie was heavenly and it looked to be done to perfection. _Just the macaroni pudding to cook and then we're done_; Tails slid his hands into the oven gloves and lifted the large dish containing his speciality into his oven and set the heat to the right level.

Fairly close by, there was a sudden splash as a large fish jerked hard on a fishing line. With a cry of triumph, the purple fisherMobian reeled in his catch, keeping his eye on the sun as a time piece. As Big stashed his prize in his fishing bag, he quickly headed back to his home as he realised if he wanted to cook this in plenty of time he needed to hurry.

On Angel Island, the preparations had already been complete; the occupants were just planning the best way of getting their haul from the island to Station Square.

"Nearly done mum?"

"Nearly", Vanilla pointed without turning around, "just pass me the basting brush please Cream". A small blue winged blob flew upwards as the younger rabbit reached for the implement; Cheese knocked the brush into his owner's grateful hands with a squeak of joy. As a chao, he and Chocola were both sensitive to emotions and the fact that excitement was all but striking sparks from the walls of the place was sending the two chao into a frenzy of chasing each other and trying to help the proceeding in any way they could.

"Here you go".

"Thank you dearest", Vanilla smiled at her daughter; Cream was still young enough to believe fully in the magic of the festive season and the fact she'd have all her friends around this year only added to the joy, "now why don't you go deal with the terrible two".

"They're not terrible", Cream gently shoved her mother, "they're just excited".

"Just like you; now skedaddle before I summon the dreaded W.U.M".

"Gone". There was a rapid exit as Cream fled out the kitchen door; the washing-up monster was the young rabbit's worst fear and only being in her mum's good books could help against it.

There's no day in the world like Christmas, especially in the morning. It seems like you'll never fall asleep on Christmas Eve but somehow you manage it, but actually waking up and realising it's Christmas just hits like nothing else in the world. Amy sprang out of bed like a panther and immediately ran down a mental checklist of what needed doing; she hissed in triumph as she realised there was nothing more to do save wait for Tails to pick her up, she'd done everything she could last night. _Take a quick shower, then just wait…oh I can't wait, it's too exciting – you big kid – it's Christmas, I'm allowed to be_.

There was a sudden rap at the door not an hour later; Amy leapt to her feet and ran to her apartment's entrance, unbolting it and the same time as she peered through the vision bubble. Sure enough,

"Hey Tails, Merry Christmas".

"Likewise", the fox smiled as the pink hedgehog raced around, grabbing as much as she could in a single trip, "want a hand?"

"Please", Amy had never been so grateful for an offer; she didn't get out of this flat and with her friends as soon as possible she'd explode, "that bin liner by the door, just carry that; where are Sonic and Shadow?" _She's gonna have a giggle when she sees the pair of them_; Tails hid a smile as he hefted the black plastic liner, feeling the outline of several large boxes contained within.

"They're in the car; you'll understand when you get there" he answered Amy's questioning look as Tails simply revealed his hidden smile. After a few seconds of locking up, Amy gave a final nod and the pair of Mobians headed down the stairs towards the entrance of the apartment block.

"Hahahaha".

"Tidings of good cheer to you too Amy", Shadow said through gritted teeth – _Why did I make so much food, why, answer me why_. He and Sonic were in the back seats of the Tornado and both of them had their hands full. Sonic was holding the plate of cowboy casserole he and Shadow had created in one hand and the pair of fruit strudels they'd cooked for dessert in the other, while the former ultimate life-form was similarly holding Tails' culinary creations to prevent contamination of the puddings with any of the main courses. The net result looked completely ridiculous and Amy sniggered a little more as she realised she was just about to add to the effect.

"Don't ask" was all Shadow said as he turned his head to avoid the blush being quite so noticeable; it was bad enough looking like this but he just knew what was coming next.

"Oh well, since you're carrying that lot you'll be able to take mine as well".

"How, we haven't a free hand between us" Sonic protested; the pink hedgehog smiled sweetly as she brought the deep pan dish holding her cooked turkey forwards.

"Well I can see some space – don't worry its cool" she assured her crush as she set the plate down on his lap. Shadow sniggered as Sonic went a bright crimson then gasped as a similar situation occurred with him and Amy's dessert. He managed a weak smile,

"Ice-cream right?"

"How'd you guess?" Tails spluttered with laughter as he pulled away from the curb with his three passengers, heading along the almost deserted streets for the other side of town where Vanilla's house stood proudly in the suburbs.

Amy leant her head against the window of the Tornado's jeep mode, the chilly glass cooling off her warm brow. She watched life race by as the few people on the sidewalk whizzed past, the snow inches thick at the side of the pavement; a young couple with a few kids, a single woman with a pushchair, a large purple cat, a family of Mobian badgers…she caught herself; large purple cat?

"Tails stop the car!" Fortunately the fox obeyed without question, indicating and pulling up to the side of the pavement inch perfectly. As soon as they were still Amy wound down her window and shouted,

"Big".

_Soon be there, I know I'm heading the right way so about another three quarters barring…_

"Big". The cat looked around at the shout; he recognised the voice straight away but couldn't see her anywhere. Taking a deep breath into his mammoth chest, the cat called back,

"Amy, where are you?"

"Over here", this time Big managed to spot her head peeking out of the window of a car. He hurried to where she was waiting, making sure the bundle in his arm wouldn't drop onto the floor as he increased his pace.

"Hullo Amy, and company" he added when he saw who was also present in this car, "on your way there already?"

"Yep, same as you", the cat's former team mate looked down at the package Big was carrying, "what's that?" His yellow eyes flicked downwards at her gaze and he smiled,

"This is what I made for the meal – hope you like fish". Amy licked her lips; she had eaten some of the cat's seasoned trout before in the summer and the memory of the taste still tingled her taste buds pleasantly.

"How long do you reckon it'll take you to get there?"

"Only about forty-five minutes", the cat replied after a few mental calculations, "I keep a steady pace up it won't take me long at all". Tails leant over from the driver's seat,

"I'd offer you a ride but there's no room I'm afraid, but I know", Tails was hit with a brainstorm, "let us take that fish off you…"

"No", there was vehement opposition from both hedgehogs in the back; things were already bad enough but anything like a fish would just be adding chaos to pandemonium, "we'd love to but there's not a free body slot between us". Big glanced in through the passenger window and chuckled gruffly,

"So I see". Amy reached through the window with both arms extended,

"I'll take it Big; that'll let you get there a bit faster".

"You sure Amy", when she nodded the cat smiled and carefully fed his package through the Tornado window to her, "thanks a lot; I'll see you all there". Tails gunned the engine of his machine and waved as Amy got the fish settled on her lap.

"Okay Big, not long now; see you at Vanillas'". The cat waved as the car took off and then set off at a rough jog towards his destination; this hustling pace was Big's customary movement speed and now his meal was no longer a burden he was able to move up a gear. In his mind, he reduced the time frame from forty-five minutes to thirty.

Cream was waiting by the door, glaring up at the doorbell as if by staring she'd managed to force it to sound a welcoming tone. She'd been stood there for only ten minutes with her two chao circling overhead and was hopping from foot to foot in extreme impatience; it surely wouldn't be long now. She was so ready, so waiting for it that when the doorbell did actually chime it was open before Amy had taken her finger of the buzzer.

"Higuys, MerryChristmascomeinandhavea…"

"Slow down", Tails put his hand on the bouncing rabbit's shoulder and tried to meet her gaze, "take a breath and speak slowly; I know you're excited but just try". The rabbit tried to follow her friend's advice and improved slightly, though the actual spoken words themselves were nearly drowned out in the tide of surging excitement the rabbit felt.

"Sorry, please come in", it was then that she noticed, "where are Sonic and Shads?" Amy and Tails shared a glance before the hedgehog spoke to her adoptive sibling,

"Has Santa been good to you Cream?"

"Umm, yes" the rabbit wasn't entirely sure where this was going but cautiously played along.

"Well, if your mum's got a camera follow us to get a special present".

"Say cheese".

"Chao!" Sonic and Shadow had been discussing what had been taking so long and both looked up at the shout; with a blinding flash both were well and truly caught on camera, complete with suitably arranged plates of grub. It was only when they heard Cream's laughter they realised what had happened.

"Cream, get rid of that picture!" Sonic demanded, seething as he realised he was helpless; if he made to kick out of the car he might drop something which would be detrimental in two respects; he'd upset someone for spilling their lovingly cooked Christmas meal and Tails would probably have him cleaning the upholstery with his tongue. The rabbit smiled and tucked the camera away in a safe pocket in her dress,

"No sorry, mum insisted", she reached into the car and took the cold turkey off Sonic's lap, "let me give you a hand with that".

"Thank you" the blue hedgehog breathed quietly as he quickly shook some feeling into his numb legs again. Luckily for Shadow Tails, Amy and Vanilla all arrived shortly afterwards to ease the food into the kitchen of the rabbit's large house, allowing the pair of hedgehogs to leave the cramped interior of the Tornado and troop inside. Once within the sheltering, warm walls Shadow made a grab at Cream.

"Gimme that picture you toe-rag". The rabbit ducked down, evading the desperate snatch and dived behind her mother; the black hedgehog drew himself short as Vanilla tapped her foot menacingly.

"I hope you're not having any evil designs on my little girl, Shadow?"

"Err, no, no nothing like that at all".

"Good", Vanilla turned and headed back into the kitchen; with the precision timing that all parents seem to possess she just waited until Shadow had geared up for a second spring before adding, "especially as your day out tomorrow is dependent on me staying sweet". _Okay, she's got me there_; Shadow reluctantly withdrew, settling for a scathing glare as Cream, emboldened by her mother's support, cheekily stuck her tongue out at the simmering Shadow.

"Cream, don't be evil", the duo had an ally as Tails approached the younger rabbit, "don't be mean to those two".

"It was your idea".

"Maybe", _that's me a goner then; cheers my dear_; Tails could almost feel Sonic and Shadow fix a pair of gazes on him that should have been flaying him to the bone, "but what I meant to say was don't be mean alone; can I have a copy of that picture?"

"Sure", the rabbit beamed back; _the pair looks ready to blow; just gotta try and get Amy to laugh_, "shall I post them to you when they're developed?"

"Please". Sonic leant down and whispered to his younger brother promisingly,

"Just wait until we're alone boyo". Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who you were at the time, Vanilla hadn't been idle while her daughter and her friend had been teasing the pair of heroes.

The elder rabbit reappeared in the doorway after she and Amy had quickly set all the food down on her large table; she'd excused herself for a couple of minutes as she had gone into her bedroom, knowing exactly what she was looking for and finding it instantly. She suddenly reappeared in the hallway just as the group of friends were being led into the lounge; she waited until they were all sitting comfortably before bringing the object in her left hand into view.

"Cream, Tails, you shouldn't make fun of people like that, do you know why?"

"Because", Cream knew what her mother was driving at and answered flawlessly, "it's a mean thing to do and people won't like you for it". She glanced around hastily, as did Tails, when the elder replied candidly,

"Partly, but also because you could get caught the same way", she passed the picture over to Amy as she finished, "you have some embarrassing pictures as well…"

"Really?" Shadow's head snapped up as Tails felt his heart freeze; with an aching stab of terror he guessed what that picture was.

"No!" He raced forwards to grab at it but he was never going to beat his older brother in a foot race, especially when the blue hedgehog was itching for revenge as he was now. Amy burst out laughing and before Tails could stop it she'd delivered the dynamite into the wrong pair of hands.

"Oh this is precious", Shadow spluttered at the photo from the previous time last year; the younger pair of Mobians went scarlet as everyone saw the picture of them under the mistletoe. Sonic laughed out loud and rubbed his younger brother's ears as Tails tried unsuccessfully to force an earthquake to swallow him up.

"Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou Romeo – that's classic, I'm framing this", he moved his hands up as though exclaiming a newspaper headline, eyes theatrically wide and star-struck, "Tails shares Christmas kiss with girlfriend".

"We are not going out" the rabbit declared, squirming as she tried to use her oversized ears to hide her cherry-red face.

"Not yet at least", Shadow carefully studied the picture but couldn't quite keep his face straight, "but on the evidence of this it'll only be a few more days". Amy winked at the pair as she smiled whole-heartedly,

"Don't worry; it's just the Christmas spirit; if you can't laugh now when can you laugh?" The logic of this percolated through to the others slowly, though it didn't stop Tails wanting something to fall from the heavens and strike him down.

"I guess", Cream suddenly glanced up as though the ceiling was about to cave in, "just as long as we don't get caught this time". _Not a hope of that; Mum that really was rotten_; the young rabbit scowled at her parent as she took the photo back to her album and headed out of the room.

A short time later all six were sipping lemonade and helping to lay the table when the doorbell rang again. Sonic, closest to the door, set down the fork he was carrying and shouted,

"I'll get it"; he was at the door before anyone could meaningfully reply and opened the front door, grinning and extending his hand as he saw who it was. A spurred paw gripped and shook as Knuckles hefted a large, bulging bag in his free hand and made to step inside.

"Nice one Knucks; knew you wouldn't keep us waiting". The echidna set his bag down just inside the door and loosened the white scarf from around his neck.

"Yeah, trip in was smooth enough; Rouge is just paying the cab off and bringing the food in". On the mention of the F-word Sonic remembered the guardian's prowess in the foods of his island and put on a pair of puppy eyes,

"What did you bring for me, old buddy old pal old friend; please tell me it was some of that buttersweet soup you can make?" Knuckles looked a little askew as he waved at Shadow and Tails, who had poked their head round the kitchen door.

"No way Sonic; I like a healthy option so I brought enough roasted hickory nuts for everyone". _Oh no, not even you could, not at Christmas_; Sonic rolled his eyes and groaned,

"Knuckles, it's Christmas day, the most special day of the year and you bring blasted hickory nuts – I aught to…"

"Psyche".

_There's something fundamentally wrong here_; it hadn't sunk in yet, Sonic had immense trouble coming to terms with the fact that Knuckles had psyched him, and even more amazingly seemed to be smiling at the fact – _that means, there's only one explanation!_

"Who are you and what did you do with Knuckles?" Sonic grabbed the shoulders of this impostor and shook slightly, desperately trying to discover what had happened to the totally serious, never relaxed Knuckles he remembered.

"Sonic", it was a cultured, feminine voice that answered him; shucking off her coat to expose her more traditional jumpsuit, Rouge concealed her smile with no small amount of difficulty – Knuckles had been wanting to do that for ages, "put my room-mate down". Realisation dawned for the hedgehog as it finally made sense.

"Ah right, makes sense now, sorry", he apologised to the figure he'd been shaking and released his grip; next thing anyone knew he had Rouge by the shoulders,

"Who's that and what did you do to Knuckles?" There was a gruff chuckle from behind him as the echidna shook his head and sighed – some things just never changed.

"Take them off or I'll break them off", Rouge threatened, though she couldn't stop a smile creeping in as Sonic's joke broke through to her; _time to put the ball back in his court_, "and anyway", she slid up to Knuckles and took his hand in hers, speaking in a sultry voice, "I didn't do anything he didn't enjoy".

"Eeeuuuwww", Sonic made the sign of the cross with two fingers as the others, drawn into the conversation by Sonic's lurid deductions, snorted with repressed laughter. Knuckles turned to his partner, joining in the joke as he spoke dryly,

"Rouge, please, no kiss-and-tell stories in front of the kids – especially as, if I remember rightly, we did a fair bit more than kiss…"

"That goes no further", Vanilla suddenly appeared in the kitchen door, a look of zero tolerance on her normally smiling features as the others pulled faces and grimaced at the echidna's inflection, "not unless you want the mango crumble I made to go down the drain".

"You made a mango crumble?" the echidna felt his jaw drop; that was his all-time, number one favourite food and he made his decision in no time, "right, no more comments". Rouge giggled and pushed him gently,

"Typical male; even if you're not thinking with your stomach you're thinking directly on its behalf". Cream got the wink from her mother and piped up innocently,

"So you don't worry about food Ms Rouge?" The bat smiled at the rabbit,

"Me, no way, and don't call me Ms, it makes me sound middle-aged", she pointed suddenly, "say it I dare you"; Shadow snapped his trap shut as Cream sighed,

"That's a shame; Mum put a lot of effort into her sweetberry and grape soufflé, but I don't suppose it matters now". Rouge let her arm drop and breathed in deeply; _she got me that time, I wonder…_ Leaning down, the bat resigned herself to defeat,

"Okay, you got me, I love sweetberry and grape soufflé", she flicked her large, aqua eyes at Vanilla's retreating back and then leant closer to the daughter, "how much d'you reckon your Mum's worth?"

"Why?"

"Well, I need a new cook, this model's a bit over the hill", Knuckles snorted and plotted revenge as Rouge indicated him, "so how much do you want for Vanilla?"

"Hmm", the younger rabbit joined in on the joke, though she was acutely aware of her mother's keen ears in the next room, "I'll sell for a thousand; I take cash, cheque and ice-cream". There was a shocked exclamation from the kitchen,

"One thousand – right, the Vienetta's going in the oven!"

"No Mummy", Cream dashed in to save her beloved treats, "I didn't mean it; you're priceless, I love you more than anything else, just spare the ice-cream".

"Keep pleading and I'll think about it". Amy sighed and moved forwards to embrace her echidna friend, whispering in his ear as he reciprocated the hold.

"Merry Christmas Knuckles".

"And you Amy".

With the extra pairs of hands the table was laid in no time at all and all that was left to do was wait for the last member of the group to join the proceedings; Tails had calculated that it shouldn't be much longer than ten or so minutes before the cat made his appearance. Vanilla hefted the bundle Big had gifted to Amy and gently unwrapped it, taking a deep, satisfying lungful of the sweet aromatic steam that rose from the beautifully poached fish the cat had prepared as she moved it into a correctly sized dish.

"Umm", Knuckles was close enough to catch a whiff, "smells good".

"Whatever else you can say about him, Big knows how to prepare a decent catch" Amy stated as the odour of the nicely cooked aquatic morsel pervaded through the kitchen. Cream, devouring everything on the table with her eyes, broke off for a minute; she liked Big immensely but somehow the large cat's attitude to life bamboozled her completely.

"I don't understand though; he said he didn't want anyone to buy him any presents", the rabbit tried once more to sort out her friend's thinking but failed after a second, "why not, especially at Christmas?"

"He said he doesn't believe in it", Rouge knelt to be at eye-level with her miniature hostess, "he believes in Christmas but not the present aspect, if you like. He said just being together and seeing his friends is the best present he could get and", she tailed off for a second as, with perfect comic timing, the crisp tune of the doorbell sounded out, "why don't you go and give him it?"

"Yay, everyone's here!" In the space of seconds Sonic's title as fastest thing alive was void; no-one in the kitchen saw Cream leave as she raced to the front door and wrenched it open, Cheese and Chocola tumbling in her slipstream.

"Big!" She leapt up into her team mate and a pair of hands, each as large as her head, caught her gently around the middle as the cat smiled broadly, tenderly holding the young rabbit close and rumbling quietly into her ear as her pet chao gripped onto a whisker each.

"Merry Christmas Cream". Without even looking, Big swung the smallest member of Team Rose up onto his shoulder and walked carefully inside, ducking down to make sure she didn't knock her head on the top of the doorframe. Cream gripped onto one of the cats' ears as she risked a glance downwards; it sure was a long way up from where she was now.

"Chao".

"Yep I know", Cream spoke to the pair of chao nested on top of Big's head, "don't let go, it's a long way down".

Big chortled, a sound probably only audible to blue whales as he slowly moved into the main hall, taking care not to knock anything over with either his large feet or his swinging tail.

"Hullo", he waved as Amy peeped around the door, watching as Big gently lifted Cream back down to the floor; _he's such a sweet guy – just as well he's a gentle giant, if he wanted to fight…yeesh_; the pink hedgehog was started out of her reverie as Shadow knocked into her slightly as he moved past.

"Hey Big guy, how's things?" _Something not right here…_

"Pretty good, can't complain, what about you and Sonic; you live with him now right?"

"Sad but true and", the black hedgehog realised what was wrong, "where's that frog of yours gone; you haven't lost him again have you?" Big boomed with deep, heavy laughter as Knuckles' voice was heard from the lounge,

"Shadow you Muppet; frogs hibernate in winter". The black hedgehog blushed as Vanilla, wiping her hands on a dishcloth and smiling, walked in and shook the cat by the paw.

"Good to see you again Big; thanks for all the fish".

"My pleasure, just hope it tastes alright – put up a heck of a struggle when I tried to land him you know?"

"Really?" Vanilla leant into the lounge and called for her daughter, "Cream, get the glasses and the corkscrew".

"Right Mum – everyone in the kitchen". All nine Mobians convened in the spacious kitchen and gratefully accepted a small glass from Cream as Sonic helped Vanilla uncork the wine bottle. Each came forwards to receive a small measure of the light red wine; when each glass was filled, the elder rabbit spoke cheerfully and raised her glass.

"To all present and absent friends – a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year". The sentiment was echoed by eight other voices, each taking a small sip of wine to seal the toast of the season.

A/N: As you've no doubt noticed, the six week promise went up in a puff of smoke – I need to stop the constant revision from eating its way through what's left of my mind. Hopefully the next chapter will come rapidly on the heels of this one.


	5. Chapter 4 Feasts, Fun and Friendship

Chapter 4 – Feasts, Fun and Friendship.

A/N: Thanks again to all my reviewers, but apparently some of my comments last chapter were a little confusing – time to clear that up:

KatyRose – The dreaded W.U.M is actually the Washing-Up Monster; it's translated on the next line down but I forgot to capitalise the words. This dreadful beast is any child's worst nightmare (unless, of course, you have the luxury of a dish washer). Its close twin is the D.U.M – the Drying-Up Monster.

As the Mobians lowered the glasses from their lips, Shadow reached for the lemonade bottle and swiftly unscrewed the top, beckoning Cream and Tails; the pair approached and offered their glasses in unspoken acknowledgement. One sip was fine but no more than that – Shadow quickly watered down the little wine they had left with the fizzy lemonade as Vanilla gave an approving nod. Sonic set his glass down, set his roving eye on the creaking table and licked his lips; it was nearly half-past one and that, in his eyes, was far too far past lunch time to be comfortable,

"All right, let's eat".

"Hold it", Amy stepped in front of the table protectively with her hands raised, "first, let's all see what we brought and explain how we made it; why don't you start Knuckles?"

"And me", Rouge cut in indignantly, "we're a team now". Big straightened at this, remembering something that had slipped his mind as he had been greeted by Cream.

"Yeah, congratulations; I heard you two are together now, so well done".

"Yes, I forgot as well", Vanilla admitted before suddenly looking a little more curious, "how did you two manage that; from what Cream told me you were rivals at one stage". Though she'd expected a response, the older rabbit probably hadn't expected the blizzard that suddenly sprang up out of nowhere.

"I wanna tell her". Tails declared,

"No please let me, let me say it". Shadow pleaded,

"No fair, I was first". Sonic protested before Amy shouted above the lot of them,

"Quiet down", she took a deep breath and pointed at the now slightly redder Knuckles and the now rouge-cheeked Rouge, "let them tell their own story you horrible lot; it's a bit embarrassing" she said as explanation to Vanilla and Big. There was a whispered conversation between the pair before, with a heavy sigh, Rouge gradually wafted her hand at Sonic,

"Oh go on then, being's as it's Christmas you can tell them". The blue hedgehog crackled with glee as he rubbed his hands together,

"Now, where to start…oh yes, we'd just arrived on Angel Island on Tails' Tornado and…"

Sonic, more so than all his friends, was a great story-teller, his natural charisma imbuing the words he spoke with inner fire that, by the end of his story, had Amy, Cream and Tails, as well as Vanilla and Big, consumed with giggles. Even Rouge herself had to hold in a few snorts of laughter as memories of that day came flooding back, some of them a little painful but most just tickling her inside as she looked fondly at what the consequences of that day had been. She and the Mobian next her had each discovered how the other felt and drawn up plans for the future together; she had quit her spying job not a fortnight later with a minimum of fuss (she'd later discovered they'd been planning to make her redundant anyway – apparently with Eggman gone the government didn't need half of its information network) and become a sort of co-guardian, helping to shoulder her soul-mate's burden. She and Knuckles were close in the truest sense of the word; it wasn't romance or any kind of spur-of-the-moment decision, it was a deep, mutual respect and affection that had evolved and matured over time and trial into the everlasting bond it now was. As Sonic drew his interpretation of events to a close, she felt Knuckles' hand close over her own,

"He did a good job, don't you think?"

"Hmm", the bat had been lost in her memories and smiled sheepishly, "sorry, I wasn't really listening". Knuckles chortled as he put his arm around her shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze,

"I know, you were miles away", he dropped his voice slightly as he examined where Sonic had reduced Big to a laughing mess, "he's a good guy at heart; didn't say about the breakdown, just layered the embarrassment on with a trowel". Rouge rolled in his grip and looked up at him, smiling exasperatedly

"You were expecting him to do anything less?" Knuckles shook his head and smiled back at her,

"Nah". He didn't resist as Rouge moved closer and slowly kissed him full on the lips, her free hand ruffling the trademark dreadlocks on the back of his head. He drew her in towards him, rejoicing in the new strength in his life and would have continued had not an encouraging wolf-whistle echoed forwards, along with a few less appealing comments,

"Please, there's a time and a place".

"You're just jealous" Rouge answered Tails as he sniggered at the two older Mobians; Amy quickly whispered to Vanilla and waited until their host had vanished before muscling in,

"Well, you can talk hot-lips", she continued as Cream squeaked in protest, "there's something you two need to see…"

"No way", Cream made a dash for her mother but was cut off by a chortling Shadow, "once was enough, no; Rouge you can have her for free!"

"Hahaha", Knuckles passed the photo to Rouge as Tails went red again and looked at the floor, "look on the bright side kid; oh, forgot, there isn't one – go you stud".

"Santa is going to remember this for next Christmas", the fox threatened as he glowered ruefully, "but luckily for you I'm too hungry to get revenge now".

"Good point", Vanilla hid the picture again after Big took an eyeful and rubbed his team mate on her bright red ears, "everyone grab a plate and tuck in".

Amy took a nice large slice of fish onto her plate and added some of the casserole-type dish her crush and his flat mate had worked on together; the white meat of the fish was stained a dark brown by a little gravy from the meat dish.

"Remember to save a little room for pudding" Cream reminded them as she took a ladle full of the hedgehog's meaty juice onto some slices of turkey, her two chao preceding her into the lounge. Sonic sidled over to Knuckles as the guardian moved for a plate,

"C'mon, didya, didya, didya?"

"Maybe" the echidna smirked as Sonic moaned aloud,

"Knuckles", he ran his hands down his face, frustrated at being baulked so close to his goal, "please, you must have, no presents if you didn't" he threatened suddenly. The guardian acted shocked and held up his hands as though relenting under intolerable pressure,

"No, don't threaten my precious gifts", he grinned as he indicated the thermos flask on the table, "yes I made some; in there, but don't hog it all". Sonic gave a victory pose and a delighted hiss as Knuckles tried to act dignified,

"Reduced to a kid for the sake of a drop of soup; and you saved the world how exactly?"

"Dumb luck and ignorance" the hedgehog cheerfully admitted as he levered the cap of the thermos; he poured out a small measure of the pale green liquid into the cup and took a long swig.

"Ah, that's the stuff", he replaced the thermos top and examined the rest of the table, "now for the main course".

By the time the eating had stopped it was definitely mid-afternoon; the pace of the day had slackened off, as had a good many belt sizes. Tails reclined on the floor, stomach comfortably full and body well rested as he called over,

"That was divine", his eyes fell on Vanilla, "how did you make the ice-cream that thick?" The elder rabbit tapped the side of her nose secretly,

"Old family secret; I take it you liked it?" Rouge looked over from her seat and nodded,

"First time I've ever eaten ice-cream I had to chew", she flumped back down with a groan, "I'm not moving for the rest of the day". Knuckles grinned ghoulishly and crept up behind her seat,

"And why's that Rouge", he darted his hands forwards and prodded the bat's taut stomach, grinning as her attempts to catch him were slowed and sluggish, "eyes bigger than your belly?"

"Stop it you irritating so-and-so", Rouge demanded, trying to slap his hands away before turning to address the other two girls, "how come you two ate so much; where does it all go?" Cream and Amy shared a sly glance before answering,

"Reckon we should tell them?"_ Say yes, we'll get a bit of a laugh out of this._

"Yeah", Cream answered after a few second's umming and ahhing, "can't do too much damage can it?" _Not sure exactly what you're up to but go for it Ames_. The rose hedgehog nodded and spoke solemnly,

"It's a Team Rose secret; shared digestion", _they're confused enough right about…now_, "Cream and I eat all the food and Big gets all the goodness; keeps us slim and him as strong as he is". There were a few polite chuckles as it actually made a surprising amount of sense; Big seemed to eat next to nothing and looked like he needed to be compensated for by the other two members of his team, who'd packed away far more than their demure size would have you believe. Rouge flicked her eyes upwards and smiled approvingly,

"Looks like it works", she looked at Knuckles and gave a calculating expression, "I might try something like that". The echidna staggered back horrified,

"Leave it out, I'd waste away". Sonic joined in after checking he had a clear run to the door,

"Or turn into a blob"; the reaction was instant.

Rouge sprang from her seat and vaulted over to where the blue hedgehog was leant against the wall with her blue eyes flashing madly. Sonic cringed and Shadow threw himself to the side as the bat landed, lashed out with one hand and pinned the hero to the wall.

"Care to repeat that?" _Uh oh; quick, excuses…got it!_

"Just, er, just getting you out of the chair", he smiled cheesily under her withering glare, acutely aware that his immediate health was now dependent on him mellowing Rouge out, "besides, if we clear up now, we get to presents faster". _Typical Sonic; better get his butt out the fire again_; Amy picked up her plate and moved to collect the empty one nearest her,

"Good idea; give us a hand and we'll get this done quick". The blue hedgehog breathed a heavy sigh of relief as Rouge released him and mentioned something about revenge coming later. A rough system was established that let three Mobians wash and dry up, two put the dried items away, two store the remaining food in sealable containers and somehow let Rouge and Vanilla overseeing proceedings, the bat in particular taking a great deal of satisfaction in dividing the chores amongst the others. As he dipped his ungloved hands into the washing up bowl again, Knuckles whispered to Amy about how they'd manage to get back at his girlfriend for pulling a fast one like that.

"This one's for you Ames"; Shadow dipped his hand into the small sack of presents he'd brought with him in the boot of the car. Though his was the smallest bag his friends were rapidly discovering that size really didn't matter.

"Oh Shadow, where did you get this?" It was a tiny jar of purest maple syrup, the type that lasted eternally because just one drop would sweeten any pancake in the world. Amy hugged the black hedgehog as she simultaneously begged Vanilla for another bowl of her ice-cream to try her syrup out on. The ebony hedgehog shook his head as he offered a second, even smaller present upwards and called,

"This one's for the gruesome twosome, wherever they are". Cream leapt up and clapped her hands,

"Cheese, Chocola, come get it". There was a rush of squeaking as the two chao breezed in from upstairs, wrestling the brightly wrapped parcel out of Shadow's hand and fighting it to the floor, desperate to unwrap it as the others watched on. Vanilla quietly approached Shadow and stooped to say in a whisper,

"What is it?"

"Just a chao toy", there was a collective 'aww' as Cheese and Chocola took to the air again, playing aerial tug of war with the soft plastic toy shaped like a spring. Cream squealed with happiness as her pets whirled around together, joined by their new toy as they fought painlessly for dominance.

"Thanks Mr Shadow; they love it".

"So I gathered", he replied sardonically as Big was forced to duck under the twirling pair; he then fixed his eyes on the pile of presents belonging to him, "you lot really want to get me on a caffeine rush don't you – there's enough coffee here to last from now until next Christmas". It appeared that great minds had thought alike in the case of Amy and Tails; there were at least half a dozen different flavours and brands of coffee visible as Tails chuckled.

"Well, you're not the easiest guy to get things for", he span on his heel and addressed the echidna next to him, "but you're easier than Mr. Self-sufficient over here".

"Hey, look on the bright side Tails", Sonic reclined next to the door of the hallway, never even hearing his doom as it crept up on him, "at least you could make something; I was wracking my brain for ageeehhhhheeeeeess!" Something wet and extremely cold was forcefully pressed to the back of the hedgehog's neck as a sly voice whispered in his ear,

"Never joke about a woman's weight Sonic; it can lead to rather more than a cold shoulder". Rouge smiled as she raced into the kitchen and threw the remainder of the melting snowball into the sink before the hero could react to the sneak attack. The bat gave her victory pose as he suddenly appeared in the doorway, eyes sparking with challenge and fun as he said solemnly,

"Rouge, that was a dangerous thing to do".

"I laugh in the face of danger", the ex-spy remarked as Sonic crossed his arms and intoned in a voice of doom,

"Right, I challenge you; snowballs at ten paces – do you accept?" _Just do it, I dare you._ Rouge smiled back sweetly; _sounds like a dare to me_,

"You're on blue boy".

"Good", the hedgehog turned and marched out towards the back door, the others trailing in his wake as he scooped up a handful of snow from the porch of Vanilla's back garden. Tails took up the role of impartial adjudicator as both combatants picked up their weapons and gestured rudely at each other,

"Back to back"; at the kit's shout, Rouge and Sonic approached each other and span on their heels – they weren't actually back to back due to the risk of Sonic's spines piercing Rouge's wings but, to Tail's eyes, it was close enough.

"Hope you like the taste of snow batgirl".

"No chance, I'm a crack shot – prepare to be put on ice spiky". As the smack talk finished Tails started the count,

"One, two, three…" _Go on, not long now_; Rouge mentally prepared herself for the quick-draw and shoot response she had perfected after years of faithful practice. She breathed steadily and on the shout she'd go full out.

"Ten!" She span, eyes fixing on their target and…oof!

Sonic was a master at any kind of 'ten paces' game for one simple reason; he could clear ten paces before the other guy could turn around, Shadow excluded. Rouge realised that exactly twenty-three seconds after it would have been useful, right when Sonic tackled her to the snowy ground and flipped her onto her front. _Revenge, and this works best when they're wearing something like this…_ Sonic pulled back the collar of the bat's jumpsuit with a cheery shout,

"Moral for the day; it is more blessed to give than to receive". He stuffed his handful of snow down the rear of former spy's form-hugging clothing and grinned in victory as she gasped in shock from the sudden cold.

"EEEkkkk", the bat managed to squeak before fury rose up to cloud out the shock and summon reinforcements, "Knuckles!" The echidna needed no second bidding; he ploughed into the hedgehog with a will and it was Sonic's turn to kiss the snow with his back-spikes. As the hero struggled Rouge pelted his pinned form with snowballs, shrieking,

"Revenge is sweet".

"Leave my bro alone"; Tails let his inner child out and threw a ball that Rouge just managed to duck before he was sneak-attacked by Shadow. Of course, Cream had to retaliate and soon the entire yard was filled with whizzing icy projectiles and dire threats as it was every man for himself. Webs of allegiance shifted at the drop of a hat and everyone needed eyes in the back of their head to avoid everyone else. As the duel wore on, only two people managed to avoid the hostilities; one retreating inside to deal with the casualties of war and the other waiting for the perfect second to strike.

It was really dark when Knuckles, red fur nearly stark white from clinging snow and his white crest completely obscured by ice, sent out the shout,

"All right, that's enough", though a couple of snowballs were sent his way there was a general consensus that the echidna was right; every single person there with the exception of Big, who had been quietly building a snowman the whole time, was soaking wet and freezing. Amy crawled out from behind her temporary shelter of the huge cat's collection of snow, a massive ball of snow nearly half as tall as Big himself, dress sopping wet as she emerged shivering, letting her snowball fall from her numb hand as the rest of her friends huddled together near the back door of the house.

"I won", Shadow declared suddenly as the rest glared at him, "I hit more people than anyone else". Sonic, breath frosting the air, smiled at him weakly,

"Maybe, but this was between me and Rouge", the bat snarled good-naturedly as he mentioned her name, "who won out of us two?"

"Me obviously" the bat declared as Big approached the rest of the group, his passive face hiding his real aim with minimal difficulty. Tails hailed him as he approached,

"Hey Big guy", he glanced back to the ball the cat had collected, "sorry but I don't reckon there's enough snow left to finish your snowman". The cat turned back, looking at it; the fact that this action also masked his grin was a real plus though.

"Yeah, looks that way", he turned back to where Rouge and Sonic were engaged in some kind of stare-down, "but that's not a snowman".

Something that often catches a lot of people out is the speed at which a larger person can move when they want to; Rouge and Sonic were caught stone cold as Big lashed out, grabbing each of them with a single hand and hoisting them upright; by a strange quirk of fate, in the entire fight only these two had hit the cat with stray snowballs and this was payback. As the two struggled and the others tensed at this unusual behaviour from the passive cat, Big smiled and turned,

"You know", he started jogging slowly back down the yard, "throwing snowballs at people is fun but…" both his unwilling passengers looked up and shrieked as they realised their destination,

"OH NOOOOO!" There was an explosion of whiteness as both smaller Mobians were thrown headlong at the gargantuan snowball Big had rolled. The others disintegrated into helpless laughter as Big span and gave a victory pose,

"…I prefer to throw people at snowballs". Tails, nearly hiccupping with laughter, reeled forwards and took hold of one of Big's mammoth arms, raising it as high as was possible for him.

"I, I declahahare, the winner of the duel; Big!" There was rapturous applause as the cat glanced behind him and, realising Sonic and Rouge were burrowing their way out of their icy prison, headed inside at a rapid rate of knots. Teeth chattering, Rouge was helped to her feet by Sonic,

"W,we were, h, had!"

"Y,yeah", Sonic agreed in an equally stuttered tone, "truce?" She shook the pro-offered hand as Knuckles approached to guide them both inside, chortling at the shaking pair.

Vanilla was waiting for them inside, inwardly smiling as she realised that no-one had noticed at least some of those snowballs had been thrown by her; she could carry on her responsible-adult-looking-after-kids routine with a straight face. It was a soaking wet, shivering collection of Mobians that were stood on the newspaper she'd left down, waiting for the few flecks of ice still dotted in their fur to melt away.

"Have fun?" She asked sardonically as she moved a kitchen chair up to let her reach the airing cupboard.

"Yeah, that was a blast", Shadow wrung a little melt-water out of his quills as he answered, "a bit wet and cold but otherwise great".

"The wet and cold I can agree with, but luckily for you lot I prepared for such an occurrence"; eight pairs of eyes radiated gratitude as Vanilla reappeared in the outhouse, holding a collection of pre-heated, bone dry towels in her arms. She braced herself for the rush that duly happened as everyone raced forwards to grab the biggest towel. Cream managed to wrest a nice fluffy beige one out of the press and wrapped it carefully around her ears, sighing as the warmth began to thaw them out.

"Oh Cream", she pricked her hearing up as Vanilla called her, "I ran a bath for you; you can take it while your suit dries out". With a yelp of delight the young rabbit wormed her way through the press of bodies and hugged her mother.

"Thank you, thank you forever; how did…"

"Oh come on", Vanilla chuckled as she explained her logic, "wearing a dress in a snowball duel? That's just asking for trouble. Try not to take too long – Amy can have it after you". Cream gave her victory pose and turned to the others momentarily,

"Rouge, sorry but I just decided; mum's not for sale", Cream held Vanilla by the hand, "she's worth too much".

"As it should be", the former spy called back, "now get in that bath; I'm dying for a soak after Ames".

_Okay, it won't be long now_; Sonic fingered his mug of coco nervously as he realised soon it would be time, _just say hi and go from there_. He cast a quick glance around the room as the others sat quietly, still recovering from the snowball duel with a cup of one of Shadow's new coffee brands – in this case it was the sweet coco Tails had brought him. He was so tempted to just slip it in unnoticed with an anonymous note but no, he wouldn't let himself do that; he'd never chickened out of anything in his life and was not going to start now. Amy was in the bathroom now, Rouge and Cream already washed and the bat dressed in a borrowed dress from Vanilla. Sonic smiled; the poor rabbit appeared to be on the verge of dozing off, her slipping mug deftly caught by Big as she yawned.

"Tired Cream?" Knuckles inquired jokingly; she replied with a haggard smile,

"It's the coco, it always puts me out like a light", she stretched, "just wait for Amy to finish in the bathroom and brush my teeth before bed". Sonic tried to act normal,

"I think you'd best join her Tails"; it was only when Shadow cracked up that he realised that was an official open mouth, insert foot – even Vanilla sniggered as he tried to make up for it, "sorry bro, that didn't come out right; I didn't mean it like that".

"Priceless", Knuckles gave an ironic round of applause as most of the others were reduced to giggling messes, "oh that was a classic; sorry but it was" he tried to apologise to the blushing Cream as Tails looked at Sonic with potential murder in his eyes.

"Not under my roof", Vanilla asserted, wagging a finger as her hammy matriarch act caused Big to double over, looking like he was about to pop as even his huge lungs struggled to contain the internal feathers, "but he's right; you two had better get to your, separate, beds pretty soon". Sonic was as red-faced as Tails, Rouge in particular having a lot of fun pointing this out, when a sudden noise at the edge of his hearing made him realise this could be someone upstairs working in mysterious ways. As the others were occupied, he slid out of the lounge.

Amy unbolted the bathroom door and stepped outside; the radiator had been turned up so high it had dried her dress off and she could wear it again. She stepped outside the steamy interior of the ablutions chamber, to come face to face with a nervous looking Sonic.

"Oh, sorry Sonic I…"

"Shh" he hissed, a finger to his lips, _please don't let the others hear this_; "no I don't need the bathroom, I, er, I wanted to talk to you". _Is, is this really happening, to me!_

"Um, okay, what about?" Amy tried to act casual but the sheer tonnage of this bombshell had sent her reeling, _now or never – go for it_. In possibly the bravest move he'd ever made in his life, Sonic, blushing madly and not able to meet her eyes, slowly revealed the secret he'd held in his pocket all day.

"Thisisforyou". Amy felt her heart leap as the blue hedgehog held a small, wrapped box in his hand and offered it to her gently.

"Is this…" Sonic had an idea of what she was going to ask and mentally kicked himself; he should have planned this better,

"Sorry, it's not quite what it looks like; I, just, just thought this would look good on you". Burning with curiosity, Amy quickly but carefully removed the wrapping to see a small, red box bound with a ribbon; with all the delicacy of a world class neurosurgeon at work, she eased the ribbon loose and lifted the top of the box.

"Oh".

_Oh God, she doesn't like it – I knew it should have been the other one_; Sonic was in a complete tizzy as Amy remained motionless for a few seconds and his nerves stretched ever tauter. He was full of self-recrimination until a single, small voice pierced it asunder,

"Sonikku", Amy couldn't believe the Mobian in front of her had done this; that he could be capable of something so thoughtful and sweet, "it's perfect".

"Really?" _Nice one my son; got it right for a change_; "you mean it?" Amy looked up at him, the tears of joy shimmering in her eyes drowned out by the smile on her lips.

"Of course", she slowly reached up and took her stud out of her ear, placing it in the box before picking up her new, and much more fitting jewellery. It was an earpiece, cast in gold with the leaves and stem picked out in a vein of green jade and the petals in rich ruby; a jewelled flower. As soon as it fitted into place, Amy made a binding vow that she'd wear this every day of her life and nothing would ever happen to it. Sonic had a strange lump in his throat as he realised just how deep this had gone and, throwing his ego, his image and everything else to the wind, he said three words,

"A perfect rose".

Amy lost control; she couldn't have even hoped to contain it as she suddenly caught Sonic in a hug, but it was here he broke a second of his hidden taboos. Rather than try and shake her off or run away, Sonic put his arms around her in kind – he was still embarrassed but this time it was different; he could understand why she was doing this. _I made her happy, so this is her way of saying thanks_; a strange, warm glow suddenly filled the blue hero and he relished it, keeping hold of Amy as the warmth filtered through to every tiny molecule in his body. The two held until a small voice, filled with gentle insistence, broke in,

"Hey you two", it was Tails; the young fox had been wondering what was keeping his brother and had walked around the corner to get a full view of the precious moment; before they had noticed him his sharp eyes had spotted something very important in the circumstances, "aren't you forgetting something?" He nodded upwards and two gazes followed his line of sight; there were a pair of nervous chuckles as the embracing pair realised just what was dangling over their heads. Sonic ran a hand through his spines and took a deep breath, looking Amy square in the eye and smiling as Tails turned his back good-naturedly; he knew, probably better than anyone, just how much courage this was taking from Sonic,

"Well, I guess it's Christmas". The blue hedgehog leaned in; his breath was warm on her face and Amy closed her eyes; as their lips met, Amy thanked anyone who felt like listening for giving her the best Christmas of all time.

A/N: In case anyone's curious, the story Sonic told about Knuckles and Rouge getting together is recorded in my archive under the title The Best Medicine. It's a bit of a light-hearted yarn so read it if you've had a bit of a down day.

On a second note – it's **COMPETITION TIME!** The person who can answer this question gets the prize of a small section of text from later in the fic (a real cliff-hanger for you). The question is related to the entire story arc so far, and it is (drum roll please):

When was the photo of Tails and Cream kissing first brought to light and where was it seen?

All answers in the review section of this story please; the first review with the correct answer gets the prize. Please leave a contact address or a signed review so I can contact you. Good luck and happy reading.


	6. Chapter 5 A Boxing Day Blast

Chapter 5 – A Boxing Day Knock-Out.

A/N: Again a big thank you to the reviewer of this fic; but what do you think of the competition I set? Fun or just plain annoying? Let me know and I'll work out if I should set some more in the future or not.

Komodo342 – It is NOT nerdy to know about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy – the entire series is a work of comic genius. If you are truly a nerd and proud of it, answer me this; In Red Dwarf, what's the difference between soft and hard light holograms? Failure to answer will result in exile from the global Brotherhood of Nerds under order of I. Rowland, Chief Nerd Supreme of England and Great Britain. You have until the next chapter is posted to answer…

Sleeping that night was a little complex, but thankfully Tails had come up trumps again; handing his keys to Shadow, he swiftly folded down the seats of the Tornado's jeep mode and, just like they had six months ago, two hedgehogs and an echidna bunked down in the back of the car, though this time there was no chance of a certain rose hedgehog capturing untoward photographs on her mobile phone. This let Vanilla share her bed with her daughter, who let Rouge sleep in her room, while Amy slept in the guest room. Big was slumped down on the largest comfy chair in the lounge and lastly the kit himself was wrapped up in a sleeping bag and had managed to fit himself onto the settee, sleeping fitfully as the greatest day of the year finally passed.

Vanilla slowly came back to the realm of consciousness due to a little pressure on her shoulder; as she blinked herself to full wakefulness she smiled as she saw why. Cream was laid alongside her and still cold to the world, and curled up next to her were the slumbering forms of the deadly duo. _It's a wonder I was left with any blanket at all_; the elder rabbit gingerly moved her body away from her daughter, taking care not to wake her up after the late night she'd had. As she slid out of bed and reached for her clothes the memories of the previous night raced back into her mind and she glanced at her child again, this time imagining her a lot older, with a familiar fox next to her. She was no fool – Tails and Cream shared a lot of common ground and were in vehement denial of their feelings; as any parent will tell you that's a classic sign of affection. _Tails must take after his brother – Sonic's useless when it comes to that Rose girl – mind you…_; Vanilla had always prided herself on knowing her own home intimately and she'd noticed that the bunch of mistletoe over the bathroom door had been one berry less since last night. It didn't take a genius to figure out just what had occurred. Vanilla shook her head – her daughter with Tails, that was looking way too far into the distant future and right now, she had a more important date to consider.

It was as she ducked her head into the lounge that she saw something had changed; Tails was still sound asleep on the sofa but the chair Big had rested in was empty. The cat was nowhere to be found and – there was a glint of metal on the front door mat, and a brown envelope under that. The owner of the house quickly examined it and realised the metal was the front door key and the envelope under it wasn't addressed to her; the words _To Team Rose_ were scribbled down in large, chunky letters. Vanilla had known Big wouldn't be accompanying them to Twinkle Park, but did he have to leave so suddenly? At least she could have taken him back to the Mystic Ruins in her car; the roads would be dead at this hour. Big was an enigma to her, though she could understand some of his reasoning; he liked living the way he did because he didn't fit in well with anything like normal life, but at the same time he seemed content, even happy, to make friends with people as long as they didn't interfere with him too much. _Is interfere even the right word?_ She shook her head, trying to put another one of her daughter's friend's quirks behind her as she though about breakfast.

"Hey Mum".

"Morning sleepyhead"; Vanilla had to chuckle as her daughter, still dressed in her nightgown, trooped into the kitchen with a heavy yawn, sitting down at the table and picking at the grapes of the fruit bowl, "Cheese and Chocola still asleep?" Cream nodded sleepily,

"Yep, like pretty much everyone else; how can they be sleeping when we're about to go to Twinkle Park, and at Christmas?" The younger rabbit perked up considerably as she saw the clock on the wall.

"Oh my, it's nearly half-past eight", she pushed back from the table with all the urgency of someone hearing a nuclear alert siren, "we're gonna be late; we gotta get ready, it's late and…"

"Hold your horses Bun", Cream calmed down at her mother using her kid nickname; Vanilla had declared she had looked 'as sweet as a sticky cream bun' in her primary school pictures and the name had stuck, "the park won't be open for another two and a half hours, we have plenty of time to get ready. Tell you what; if no-one's up by the time you've finished breakfast you can get Tails up". Cream sighed as she took the offered agreement as a reflection of the previous evening.

"Mum, I'd rather go and get Amy…"

"Is that so; my motherly-love lie-detector says someone's not telling me the truth", the elder rabbit smiled as she put down a full bowl of cereal for herself and a half-full one for her daughter, "listen kiddo, I know you two are good friends and I'm glad about that", she carried on as Cream twiddled one of her ears around her hand; _she's a little bit embarrassed about this – a crush maybe_; Vanilla was careful to hide her suspicions as she continued, "he's a nice boy and a good person to have as a friend; I'm glad to know him".

"Really mum?" Cream glanced up at this admission, causing Vanilla to nod sagely,

"Yes, I like Tails as a friend, and you should to", Cream eyes never left her mother's face, "so no more of this 'I'd rather get Amy or someone else' malarkey, or you'll get some more of, this!" Her hand that had been inching forwards under the table shot forward and gently pinched her daughter's belly; Cream laughed and tried to slap the hand away as she capitulated,

"Mercy, mercy; okay I'll get him up in a minute", she used both hands to hold her mother's at a distance before locking eyes with the elder rabbit, "Mum, I, er, I do like Tails, but just as a friend, okay?" Vanilla rolled her eyes and smiled,

"Fine by me, now eat before the flakes go soggy". _Looks like I was right earlier – reminds me of my first crush; Ricky Sharpear you were a sweetheart_; Vanilla let her mind wander backwards to when she had first felt the stirrings of young affection and how they had changed her, made her both more nervous and more self-confident at the same time. This was something she couldn't teach Cream directly, she had to sit on the sidelines and shout encouragement as best she could.

"Finished mum", Cream carried her bowl to the sink and ran some cold water onto it as a rinse, leaving it on the side to drain as she'd been taught, "I'll go and wake him up now".

"Okay, but be gentle about it; no snowballs down the top of his sleeping bag at this time in the morning".

"Aww, no fun", Cream tried her cute look but, after over a decade of exposure, Vanilla was impervious to this type of attack, "no loud noises as well I bet".

"You win, now shoo before the WUM and DUM show up". _I know they're not real, but I hate washing and drying up so better play along_; Cream slid off her chair and scooted out the door quickly as Vanilla began to fill the sink. She turned around as Cream quickly reappeared,

"Mum, has Big gone?" _Nuts, I'd forgotten about that_;

"Yes, sorry but he left very early this morning", Vanilla nodded to the top of the fridge, "but he left an envelope for you". Cream sighed but at the same time smiled,

"He said he'd leave yesterday; spoke to me when I'd finished getting ready for bed. Wonder what's inside". Using her natural gift of levitation, Cream fluttered up to the top of the fridge and saw the large envelope; she almost reached out for it before realising it was addressed to her and Amy. She lowered herself to the floor and walked out again, missing the look of relief on Vanilla's face as she realised the cat had more sense and feelings than she'd given him credit for.

_Now this is tricky_; Cream furrowed her brow as she realised she had a problem here – she needed to wake Tails up slowly so he wouldn't be worried and quietly so he wouldn't wake anyone else. She crept over to where the fox was slumbering still, the foot of his bed peeping over the armrest of the settee as his head rested on a pillow the other side. Cream sized up the problem and examined all the available options before deciding on a course of action; she walked stealthily over to the fox's head and, trembling from both nervousness and her own sense of daring, she gently stroked the ear nearest to her. The organ flicked but Tails slept on, his light breathing almost in tandem with Cream's own as she tried again, this time pulling on it a little harder to try and provoke more of a response.

"G'way"; Cream widened her eyes in shock as the fox rolled away from her without even waking a quarter of the way up, trying to put some distance between his ear and the source of the itch; _go away – I'll give him go away, hmm…_

It took a little doing but eventually the rabbit managed to unzip the sleeping bag down one side and, with a gleeful smile, suddenly threw it upwards, exposing the fox to the cold air. Tails shivered but still didn't wake up, at least not until Cream started wafting the sleeping bag up and down like a giant fan.

"Brrr", Tails woke and tried to collect his bearings and, most importantly, stop whatever was causing that abominable draught, "Cream, what are you doing?"

"Just getting you up in time".

"Time for what?" Tails hadn't remembered as he took a deep yawn of air; Cream had no hesitation of filling him in.

"Oh I don't know, what about the visit to Twinkle Park that's happening in about two hours?" Tails was instantly awake, alert and ready for anything; he'd looked forwards to this for weeks and wasn't going to let a little thing like tiredness stand in the way. He slipped on his shoes as Cream stood a little off to the side, not sure exactly what to do next.

"Umm", she decided after a few seconds pause, "why don't you get some breakfast; mum's about to start the washing up so if you hurry she'll be able to wash your bowl for you".

"Nice plan, I like it"; _that was a nice offer, she's smart_; Tails smiled up at Cream as he pushed himself to his feet, hiding his nervousness behind a screen of charisma, much like his elder brother did at times. Both younger Mobians left the lounge for the dining room, neither sure exactly what to feel as they realised the other was close enough to hear even the most secret, hidden tone of voice.

_Urrrrrrgggghhhhh_; from the second she blinked open her sleep-encrusted eyes and took a snuffling breath through her numb nose, Amy realised it was going to be just one of those days. She felt exhausted and bloated as she swam through her covers, eventually letting her legs flop out of bed and to the ground. _I must have over-eaten last night, and the fight straight after it didn't help any_ – as she pulled on her dress she shuddered as she considered the unpleasant possibility that she had caught a cold and it was just starting to show. She kicked on her shoes and straightened herself with an even more determined manner than usual as she remembered that this was the big day today. There was no way on this great green earth that she'd miss out on the Boxing Day Bash for something as trifling as a cold, no matter that she felt like Death warmed up. There was no mirror in the guest room, which she considered just as well; she didn't want to know just how awful she looked until she was in a position to do something about it. Time to go for a bathroom creep – stealthily creaking the door open, Amy glanced each way down the hallway and, assuring herself it was deserted, quickly darted down the hall, swung a hard right and quickly checked herself to reach the bathroom. The door opened and Amy slipped inside, congratulating herself on a job well done as she turned around… coming face-to-face with Rouge.

The hedgehog stared for a second as the bat clumsily turned to look at who had invaded her haven just as she was putting on her customary make-up, the eye-shadow applier paused midway between blush pot and eyelid. Amy made to back out the door but Rouge was marginally faster and saw the younger girl with more than a touch of concern.

"Oh it's you Ames", _is she feeling alright, she looks a little pale_, "are you all right?"

"Umm, I'm a little tired and didn't sleep very well", she gave a weak smile as she patted her belly, "think I overdid the ice-cream last night".

"You and me both", Rouge finished applying her make-up and took a final glance in the mirror before easing off one of her gloves; Amy didn't move as the naked hand gently touched her forehead, "hmm, you feel a bit warm; have any contact with a cold over the holidays?"

"I think Si might have had one a few weeks back, but he said it wasn't much, he was better in a few days". Amy tried to focus on the bat's furless hand as it stayed where it was for the minute, the older Mobian weighing things up in her mind before shrugging and removing her digits, slipping them back into her glove and smiling; since she and Knuckles had been together she'd been less self-conscious about exposing her hairless hands, just as Knuckles had occasionally revealed the bare spurs of his own paws.

"Well, shouldn't be anything serious – nothing that'll stop you making Twinkle Park later, ohh I can't wait for that"; Rouge shuddered in anticipation as the hedgehog waved a menacing finger.

"Wild horses wouldn't keep me away from there today". The bat smiled and put her hands on her hips as she agreed,

"Good for you Ames and, oh, just a moment", the slight shift in position had made the light from above shine differently in Rouge's eyes; something had a bright reflection and it had caught her eye, "what's this I see?"

"That, that was a present"; Amy lowered her head on the pretence of letting the bat get a closer look of the new ear piece; deep down she hoped Rouge wouldn't ask who from. The ex-spy gave the small object a critical once over with a very well-practiced eye,

"Nice piece, real jewels too".

"How'd you", Rouge raised a single, quizzical eyebrow as Amy remembered exactly who she was talking with on the subject of jewellery, "forget I asked".

"Looks good, and it suits you; so come on, out with it", Rouge rubbed her hands; _if she says who I've got my money on he is in for the ribbing to end all ribbings_, "who gave it to you?"

"Oh, er", _can't tell her, she'd make Sonic's life a misery,_ "that came from, my boss; he said I'd done a good job and", she stuttered to a halt as she realised Rouge was trying desperately not to laugh, "what's so funny?"

"You; you're a hopeless liar Ames", the bat pulled herself together as she tried to make this painless, "I worked for the President and he didn't give me jewels as good as that very often; I reckon I know who it was".

"Really?" the pink hedgehog squeaked, still clinging hopelessly to her defence.

"Yep, I reckon it was a famous blue hedgehog with green eyes, a fox for a brother and an ego the size of a planet, am I right?" _Of course I am_; Rouge could read body language quite well on a normal day and the way Amy suddenly shuffled her feet and looked at the floor made her realise she'd realised she'd hit home.

"Yeah, it was Sonic; he gave it to me last night before I went to bed".

"I wondered where you'd gone" the bat remarked, plotting the best way to make the hero squirm before Amy's voice broke back through to her.

"Listen, I know this is a big ask but don't tell Knuckles – Sonic'll never live it down". Rouge span to face her and grinned hopelessly,

"I know; I fully intend to make sure he doesn't; oh this is going to be sweet". Amy glared back at the bat; it may have been in an innocuous manner and in fun but Rouge was indirectly threatening Sonic and she couldn't let that happen.

"You listen to me, Ms Assistant Guardian; you are going to keep this quiet or", she pointed a venomous finger at Rouge's still damp mascara, "that eye-shadow's going all over your face".

"You couldn't…" Rouge never had a chance to finish; she was too busy trying to hold Amy's hands at bay by gripping her wrists and pushing them away. To her horror and shock, she was slowly failing as Amy's strength forced her backwards to try and keep distance between her face and the mascara-smearing finger tips. _She's strong, I can't hold her_;

"Alright, alright I promise", the bat waited for the relentless assault to stop before continuing, "I won't tell Knucks, but if he figures it out for himself that's another matter. Now", the bat reached for her make-up case and packed everything away before sealing it up, "I'm off for breakfast; just splash some warm water on your face and try to have something to eat, it'll make you feel better". Amy stood to the side as Rouge exited the bathroom, though she failed to see the smirk that Rouge couldn't quite suppress – _at least I never promised I wouldn't take the mick – time for payback on that crooked snowball contest Sonic!_

"Ah, the sleeping beauties waketh".

"Not this time in the morning floppy" Knuckles growled as she opened the door to him and the two hedgehogs; though necessary to get any kind of sleep in the night the Tornado was hardly the most ideal crashing place and it had been an uncomfortable night for the echidna. Shadow yawned as he nodded at the young hostess; he was seeking some life-giving coffee to start the day off – only Sonic appeared unfazed by his lodgings.

"Thanks short stuff", he nimbly dodged Cream's cuff; the rabbit knew she was the smallest of her friends and didn't like to be reminded of the fact, "now where's that soup from last night?"

"At least someone's easy to please", the trio listened in as Vanilla's voiced echoed down through the hallway, "six sugars in a white coffee; how do you put up with this girl's sweet tooth Knuckles?"

"I point out how much weight she's put on…"

"WHAT!" Both hedgehogs and Cream sidled away from Knuckles as if he'd suddenly caught a virulent strain of the plague,

"…then I run like hell before she catches me; the chase burns off all the calories". Rouge jerked her burning eyes round the door as Knuckles posed victoriously; it was partially true – as a fruit bat Rouge had a natural tendency to snack on sweet things that were unfortunately rather on the fattening side of the scale. She had kept her figure by a punishing fitness regime that Knuckles had altered with her to take into account her now much more active lifestyle. This kept her slim, though it unfortunately didn't stop the echidna making a few choice comments to her unfortunate fondness for sugar.

"You better treat me to something special when we're out Knucklehead" the bat promised as she led them into the kitchen; the guardian slid his arms around her waist before she could sit down and whispered in her ear.

"You know I will batgirl; when don't I?" The bat smiled fondly and flicked the side of his nose with one finger,

"When you make jokes about my figure".

"You're gorgeous and you know it".

"I have to be; I'm making up for you in the beauty stakes. Ah, don't!" she squeaked as Knuckles blew in her ear suddenly; she tried to wriggle free as the echidna demanded an apology. Sonic cut in as he poured milk on his cereal, secretly celebrating as he confirmed that those two were made for each other; no-one had ever been able make his serious friend lighten up as readily as Rouge could.

"Why should she apologise; you know she's right". Knuckles let his girlfriend go back to her coffee and glanced at Sonic sardonically.

"Oh really, well if I'm no oil painting how come I'm the one with a stunning girl", he smiled at Rouge as she waited for him to finish, "living with me?" _Oh, harsh_, the blue hedgehog winced as he realised this was the one field were Knuckles had him over a barrel – _doesn't have to be that way you know – can't you take a hint – presents, a Christmas kiss, the evidence is compelling – but not concrete, at least, not yet – oh my God I think we're getting somewhere – maybe_; Sonic shook his head and sighed in resignation,

"No idea – it can't be charisma, certainly isn't charm and the closest you've come to fashion is looking it up in a dictionary", he looked up to where Knuckles was advancing towards him menacingly; he edged slowly towards the door, "was it something I said?"

Amy pushed the bathroom door open and watched in amazement as a rush of wind breezed past, followed by a roaring echidna demanding a fight as voices in the background tried to settle things down. The pink hedgehog rolled her eyes – _that's the boy's awake then_.

When everyone eventually calmed down, got washed, fed and ready to go, and after Shadow and Tails finally managed to persuade Knuckles to put down the chair and let Sonic live for another day, there was only thirty minutes left to get ready. Cream and Tails could hardly sit still, Sonic was in a similar state, Shadow was nearly as bad but could hide it better and Knuckles was merely waiting stoically, a champion of holding his emotions in check as they all waited for the other three girls to get ready. Rouge was first to emerge, followed by Amy, but it was when Vanilla presented herself from the master bedroom that all seven other jaws fell to the floor; Shadow in particular was having trouble coming to terms with his partner for the day.

The elder rabbit had carefully arranged her clothes to compliment her natural build and physique perfectly; she was wearing casual jeans and a loose T-shirt. She didn't have much make-up on but what she was wearing complimented her image as a bloom of youth. Vanilla sniggered at their gawping expressions and stuck her tongue out,

"What's up, mass tonsillitis?"

"M,mum?" Cream managed to whisper as Shadow simply continued blinking; mind still not managing to comprehend that Vanilla could look so young when she wanted to.

"Yes, amazing but true, it's me".

"How'd you do it?" Rouge studied the older Mobian for some clue, a tiny hint of how she'd pulled the transformation off, "you don't look a day over eighteen". Vanilla smiled and may just, _just_ have gone a slight shade of red as she examined herself.

"It's not quite that young, but it's just a matter of picking the right clothes and highlighting it with the slap", she chuckled slightly as the bat listened intently, "I don't have a time machine stashed in my bedroom". Tails hummed and gently stroked his whiskered chin, a sly look on his features,

"I might be able to do something about that…"

"No way you", Sonic reprimanded his brother as he saw the sparkle of challenge in the fox's eyes, "just stick to mechanics; last thing we need is you monkeying around in the space-time continuity".

"That's continuum". Amy supplied helpfully,

"Whatever". Vanilla pulled her car keys out of the rear pocket of her jeans and broke up the fledgling argument effortlessly,

"Anyway, shall we get going?" She offered her arm to Shadow; with a look of apprehension on his face the black hedgehog accepted and walked in tandem with the rabbit as she led them outside, Cream pausing to give her chao a hug before they all left. As they all rearranged themselves into pairs and cars, Sonic whispered to Amy.

"You feeling alright?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You look a little peaky". The rose hedgehog smiled and Sonic felt a little warmth of the previous night return,

"Rouge said that; I'm just tired, had a bad night last night, nothing a trip to the park won't cure". Acting on impulse, Sonic squeezed her hand as the pair entered the Tornado from opposite doors.

"Atta girl; that's the attitude".

"Been hanging around with you too long".

"A lot of people say that – must mean I'm irresistible".

"Irritating maybe – irresistible nah".

"Hey you pair", _I've wanted to say this for ages_, "no canoodling in the back seats". The hedgehogs looked up from their word games to see Tails looking at them in the rear view mirror as he pulled out; both settled down as they heard Cream giggle at Tails managing to turn Sonic's saying against its creator.

Shadow opened the passenger door of the light green car Vanilla owned and stepped outside, relishing the crisp air as he set his eyes on the prize; the entrance to Twinkle Park was within view and a comfortable walk away. Knuckles joined him at the bonnet and nodded in unspoken agreement,

"Looks cool doesn't it?"

"I've been here before haven't I; just can't remember it". Knuckles had to think carefully about this and tilted his head back – it was a few seconds before the echidna could answer his friend,

"No, no in all honesty I don't think you have", he looked at the black hedgehog and chuckled, "don't worry, this'll be a first time for both of us".

"You've been here before haven't you?"

"Yeah, but I was on business if you catch my drift. Never had time to enjoy the place".

"Well you will today Knucks", Rouge appeared on his arm and rubbed his shoulder. Despite himself the echidna smiled; it seemed he just couldn't not smile when the bat was around,

"I could be on a life support machine and I'd enjoy it as long as you were next to me". The bat tousled his hair before gripping his hand and dragging him off the bonnet of the car,

"Come on, let's get going; Tails'll be here soon enough".

"You big kid; all that talk of maturity and this at the first sight of the funfair", Vanilla chortled as Shadow scooted over to make room for her, "we're waiting here until the other four show up, got it?"

"No", the bat drew herself up prissily, "I'm the eldest looking here and I say we're going in now". Knuckles sighed wearily as he gave an imploring glance to the rabbit and her partner,

"You see what I have to put up with?"

"Better that than when you're snoring; honestly it's like trying to sleep in a saw-mill". Shadow shook his head at the pair of them, a little relieved that they were now trading light-hearted comments rather than punches and kicks. A sudden light bulb clicked on in his mind,

"Hey you two, remember, we've got to look cute as couples to get in free; you look like you need the practice".

"And you don't?" Shadow and Vanilla gave a nod and in unison blasted the bat and echidna with the expressions they'd been practising on the drive in. Knuckles reeled as though blinded and Rouge squinted in the beam of pleading held in the combined glances.

"Ah, okay, you'll get in no trouble, just turn it off now". Hedgehog and rabbit reset their expressions to neutral as Knuckles and Rouge hastily discussed how they could try and top that; as Shadow pointed out, Knuckles was more rugged than cute and Rouge was very mature for her age. As they began to formulate a strategy, the Tornado pulled up in a nearby parking space.

"Hey guys, ready to roll?"

"You bet", Tails remotely locked the Tornado before bounding over to the others, Cream matching him step for step, "been looking forwards to this all week and nothing's going to stop me now".

"Or me", Cream agreed, bouncing on the spot as the excitement tore at her; Sonic and Amy arrived to complete the group of eight and they all set off towards the paying in point together. There was a bit of a queue already despite the early hour, but soon they were all ready for an entrance.

"Hello there", the girl at the entrance smiled from her register and spoke as they reached her from the queue, "names please?" Knuckles and Rouge were first in the queue so answered as both nervously tried to assume their 'cute' look.

"Knuckles Echidna and Rouge the Bat please". The human scrolled down the register and gave a small 'ah' as she found the correct names. As she ticked them off, she gave them a quick once over, followed by a tiny nod of her head.

"Okay, you're just about cute enough to qualify; go on in", the bat and echidna ducked past and gratefully exchanged a sigh of relief; that had been painful but, as Knuckles glanced around, he swiftly realised it had been worth it.

Twinkle Park had been made up to look like some sort of ice-palace from a fairy-tale. The snow was thick on the ground and was being pumped out of discreet little tubes to fall in a soft, feathery rain. Plastic icicles were hung from most horizontal surfaces and refracted the light that fell on them into shining rainbows that added a new dimension to the presentation of an icy paradise.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Knuckles simply nodded as Rouge took a map of the place from a holder on the side of the main entrance way and flipped it open. Two places immediately caught her eye; the ghost house had been rechristened Shiver's Revenge for the occasion and the famous Twister rollercoaster was now the Blizzard and, she could see, had even been given a lick of white paint to complete the job. Vanilla and Shadow strode over, followed by and embarrassed-looking Sonic and a giggling Amy. Rouge rolled her eyes,

"I know I'm gonna regret it, but what happened?" Amy answered as Sonic put a paw over his face as though trying to shield his mind from the memory,

"The girl said we made the cutest couple she'd seen all day", the pink hedgehog glowed with pride as Sonic revealed his face again; to the surprise of most concerned he was smiling shyly rather than grimacing at this deduction by the cashier.

"Just the two terrors to come then", Shadow mentioned before looking around after a second's pause, "where are they anyway?"

"Up here", everyone looked up; the flying duo were hovering overhead in order to get a clearer picture of what was going on and where the queues were now, "there's a few people heading over to the rollercoaster and the Big Easy, but everything else looks pretty clear". As the two touched down and were congratulated on their quick thinking, the word 'big' touched off a memory in Vanilla. She unclipped her purse as the others decided what was the best thing to do first.

"Hey, Team Rose", Amy and Cream looked over as Vanilla produced the envelope Big had left them, "looks like you forgot something from this morning". Cream gave a slight d'oh as she realised she'd completely forgotten the gift her larger friend had left her. Together, she and Amy opened the envelope carefully and revealed a Christmas card; a snowman with a sprig of holly in his broomstick arm cheerfully adorning the front of it. Amy held it upright and began to open it, realising the cat had left something inside. As the others clustered around there was a collective gasp of astonishment as the card fell open.

"It's us Ames" Cream said breathlessly as her eyes drank in the sketch pinned to the inside of the card.

It was a charcoal drawing of all three members of Team Rose, including Cheese and even Froggy, delivering their combined victory pose against a backdrop of the front of Cream's house. It was a deceptively simple type of artwork; it was only when you looked at it closely that you could see the thought and time that had gone into it; the way the cat must have shaded each one of Amy's spines individually to take into account the light blazing from the front of the rabbit's house. Only after an intense examination could you pick out the intricacies involved in the expression of joy on Cream's face as Cheese hugged her ear and the manner in which all three central figures overlapped, yet remained separate in the centre of the drawing; all marks of a talented sketcher. But that wasn't all, for underneath the first drawing was a second, identical to the first in every tiny detail, a fact made all the more amazing as everyone present tried to picture the amount of effort Big must have put into this gift and simply failed to comprehend the time scale involved. There was a message underneath these masterpieces and Amy read it out loud in a hushed, awed voice,

"To Amy and Cream, a merry Christmas and a happy New Year – may all your wishes and dreams come true. All my love, Big the Cat", she reverently closed the card and slowly slid it back inside the envelope, taking exquisite care not to crease the parchment inside, "that's, that's just incredible; Vanilla, please look after it".

"Amy, I'm having one of these framed", the rabbit assured her as she replaced the card in the most straight and secure part of her handbag; never had she even considered the possibility that Big could have had an artistic streak, never mind one as refined or as competent as that. It was only then that something struck her,

"He must have, done that…", _my stars, that's impossible; no-one could do something like that_; Vanilla saw Tails brighten as he saw her point and gasped,

"…from memory", the kit finished for her; he knew he was a skilled person mnemonically but that was a whole new level. Shadow nodded in mute agreement,

"He's right as well, you two couldn't have posed for the picture could you?"

"When was the last time he was at your house Vanilla?" Rouge tried to get a feel for the time scale involved as she inwardly raised her appreciation of the large cat up several notches. Cream managed to answer after a stunned second of thinking,

"It must have been just after the Metal Overlord bit, when he took me home after we went fishing for the day, but that was months ago".

"He must have a memory like a sponge", Sonic stated; he didn't have much of a tolerance for art if truth be told, mostly due to the fact he couldn't draw to save his life, but a piece as skilled as that had embedded itself deep in his memories, "if I were you I'd frame your copy too Ames; that's priceless".

"You said it". Knuckles tore his eyes down at the map of Twinkle Park and immediately saw a solution; he tapped Vanilla's shoulder and spoke to the rest,

"Hey guys; here's a thought", he pointed at the booth just outside the Blizzard, "this place does photo frames, at least temporary ones; if we go over maybe they'll lend us two to keep the sketches safe". Tails weighed it up in his mind and agreed approvingly,

"Good idea Knucks; that'll keep them safe and", he took to the air for a second, "there's no queue, so if we hurry we'll get there first". All eight set off immediately; Big had put his heart into these drawings; to treat them like anything less than that would be betrayal of the most foul kind.

Thanks to the man servicing this counter having a slight appreciation of art, both sketches were swiftly wrapped up in separate sheaths that were guaranteed water and tear-proof. Now that everyone was sure their friend's gift could no longer be accidentally damaged, there was a swift vote as to where to go first. By mutual agreement, it was decided that the Blizzard simply had to be the last ride of the day, so other options were swiftly discussed and a vote taken. As the eldest, Vanilla counted and smiled as she realised her candidate was going to be elected in.

"Right, Shiver's Revenge it is then". Knuckles shifted the map and sighed; at least they had all day to check out the Snowstorm Assault Course. The echidna pointed down a path to the right,

"We go this way and take the second on the right, okay. Follow me". All eight Mobians set off towards their goal, Amy holding onto Sonic slightly as she realised she'd never quite got over her inherent fear of ghosts and ghouls; not since she'd been camping at six and some bright spark had thought it would be a good idea to run into her tent in the middle of the night, dressed in rags and fake blood. It had taken her a quarter of an hour to stop screaming and she hadn't slept again that night.

"Sonic, um", she started, unsure of how he'd react to this, "I'm not, you know, a hundred percent cool with, like, ghosts and creepy things". The blue hedgehog chuckled and spoke back quietly,

"Don't worry Ames; I'll be with you the whole time – I'm an experienced ghost-buster".

"Really?" Sonic smiled and gently held her hand,

"Yeah, really; just ask Tails about the time we were hanging in Robotnik's digging sites. He was younger then and didn't like the dark, so I just stayed with him until he was a bit more confident. Look at him now, bold as brass", he indicated the fox as Tails played a short game of aerial tag with his partner, _I wonder if…yeah, there's a good idea_; he spoke again as Amy followed his glance, "just as well, I needed the practice".

"Tell me more", _what could have got through to him_?

"One word; Sandopolis – that was a nightmare in the main pyramid", Sonic shuddered at the memory, "I swear, if there are ghosts in this world that's one of their main hang outs". Amy giggled as she smiled at the strangely open admission from Sonic,

"Well, if you could make it through something like that I'm sure I can tackle a little ghost ride". Sonic sucked in a breath and put his arm around her shoulders, offering a small gesture of support in this decision, grateful that they were at the rear of the group and no-one could see them; too bad for him he didn't notice that just as he removed his arm he'd been seen as a reflection in one of the icicles adorning Twinkle Park. _More fodder for the cannon; Sonic you are really in for it this time!_

"Please, come on in". In Knuckles' opinion, the tour guide couldn't have been more suited for his job; he was a startlingly small, skinny man with a beak like nose, pale blue eyes and a few straggly stands of hair protecting him from complete baldness. He was dressed in a heavy robe that must have been his uniform and appeared to be a little hunched over, though where that was just part of his act or due to posture problems the echidna couldn't say.

"Wonder if he's like that all the time", Rouge whispered to him as they entered the slightly warmer interior of the ghost house, "if not he's really into his job".

"Tell me about it"; Shadow had obviously overheard the two speaking as he cut in from slightly behind them. The hushed conversation between the Mobians and the half-dozen or so humans who had joined them en route to this ride ceased as the guide paused by the heavily constructed wooden door that must have led into the ghost house and spoke in a high, nasally voice.

"Not many brave souls dare venture into this house of creepiness and confusion, not when they hear the legends", he gave a suitably dramatic pause as there was some uneasy shuffling, "this house was once owned and inhabited by a wealthy family but money and power, as it so often does, corrupted them; they were cold and cruel to all who met them, none more so than their faithful butler, Shivers. This elderly gent worked for them all his life, but as he lay infirm one fine Christmas, the master of the house ordered him to get out. Shivers' poor heart couldn't bear to leave and he passed away within the four walls he'd lived all his life, but with his final breath he placed upon this house a terrible curse". There were definite tremors running through the audience now as the guide, with his creepy disguise and spookily compelling voice, had them on the hook,

"It was late, on the darkest eve of the year, when the locals nearby heard the sounds of screaming and other, less worldly noises coming from this fine building. Many swore it was a herald of the end times, so chilling did it sound, so deadly and dark. When the dawn came, a few of the bravest souls came knocking on the door. What they found inside they could never say again, they were so numb from the terror, but from that day forth no-one has entered this place and come out the same". The tour guide bent forwards, a grim little smile on his thin lips as he stared at them all piercingly,

"Do any of you have the courage to enter?"

_Uh oh_; Amy had been confident as she'd arrived but that story had drained her courage like water from a leaky bucket. Someone left, she could hear shuffling behind her and was very tempted to join them but no; Sonic was next to her and while he was around she could do anything.

"Let's do this" she whispered to bolster herself; she jumped a little at a voice in her ear,

"You sure Ames?" Sonic looked at her concerned, "I'll sit this one out if you want".

"No way"; she took hold of his arm, "I'm conquering my fear of ghosts here and now". Cream, slightly ahead, looked around at her friend and noted with relief that she wasn't the only one feeling more than a little terrified at this ride,

"Nervy too Ames?"

"Yep, not a massive fan of ghosts".

"Me neither", _brainwave – less scary when there's something at the end of it!_; the rabbit looked up sharply, "tell you what, let's make a bet; first one to scream buys the other an ice-cream". She hurriedly shook with the hedgehog as they were ushered inside by the vertically-challenged guide; he smiled ominously as they made their way past him,

"Your last chance to turn back". Amy whispered out the corner of her mouth,

"Not a chance" and stepped inside.

The interior was dimly lit and ominous; the sickly yellow and green phosphoresce barely illuminating the glinting ebony of the ride itself. Following the instructions that slithered out of hidden speakers, all the 'new victims' alighted the ride two to a seat, Amy shifted over to let Sonic sit down, shaking slightly and this time it wasn't due to the cold.

"Just chill Ames; relax and let it come to you" were the blue blur's words of wisdom as the safety bar descended to hold them all in place. She managed to give a weak smile before, with a sudden lurch, the rollercoaster moved off from the start point. It began at a slower pace and just as the pink hedgehog was beginning to relax, the speed picked up and from the darkness ahead, something screamed bloodcurdlingly.

Strangely enough, though in the future Amy would be able to recall every other detail of that magical day perfectly, her memory of the ghost ride was more or less a complete blank. All she remembered of it was that at some stage, just after she'd been forced to shut her eyes to ward off a flickering spirit to the side, she and Sonic had both sat bolt upright in their seats, crushed against the safety bar as icy cold water dripped onto the back of their necks from a hidden crevasse above them. Just after that tiny escape, as her heart was still fluttering around in her ribcage like an imprisoned bird, there had come a sudden scream of panic from up ahead. Amy just about managed to hold her nerve as a stylised grim reaper rushed out from its alcove to try and behead her as Sonic leaned over.

"Looks like you won the bet Ames". _I can't take anymore_; she clamped her eyes shut, trying to block out the world as computerised moans of horror filtered into her ears. Her teeth were gritted and her knuckles were white even through her gloves. _Man, she's terrified, better try something_;Sonic gently placed his hand above and over hers, lending unspoken support as he cursed himself for his stupidity – he should have sat this one out instead of forcing her to come in with him.

"Hey, come on Amy", he spoke carefully to try and get her to release her crushing grip on the plastic, "you can look, it isn't real". Typically, just as he said that, the ride they were on began to slow down slightly, tiny specks of light becoming clear at the end of the spiral as the ride ended. The ride pulled to a halt and the bar hissed itself upright as Amy finally let go, her eyes large with fright and legs shaking as she wobbled towards the exit. Sonic helped to steady her and repeatedly cursed himself for making her do this, trying desperately to think of some way to correct his mistake. They were the last to emerge as the other six waited for them, Amy taking a little solace in the fact that most of the others looked at the very least rattled.

"Man, that was spine-chilling", Tails started the conversation, trying to breath rhythmically and calm down as Cream nodded,

"Yeah, that horrid cold water down my neck", she shuddered and rubbed the affected place as though trying to purge the memory of the incident from her flesh, "that was scary".

"You said it; it's gone all down the back of my jumpsuit – the wind-chill's gonna play merry hell with me for that" Rouge complained, Knuckles moving to rub the wet patch of her suit with one of his large, warm hands as they all compared the most nerve-jangling bits of the ride. Sonic kept his eye on Amy, mentally breathing a heavy sigh of relief as it seemed the talking was helping her recover to some degree – _not like it's important, I still owe it to her to make up, but how?_ As the blue hedgehog pondered, Cream drew herself up smugly,

"Well, I think after the Snowstorm course, I shall be treating myself to a triple flake 99, courtesy of my big sister". Amy smiled back, equally smugly,

"In your dreams maybe; I know that girly scream when I hear it and it belonged to you missy". Tails and Cream swapped a glance, the fox definitely shaking his head as Cream pursed her lips,

"Nah, it wasn't me at all, Tails'll tell you that – come on, own up". Sonic remembered back and, no, it hadn't been Amy, she hadn't screamed.

"And it wasn't Ames either; had my eye on her the whole time"; there was quite understandable confusion to this but before anyone could start an argument there was a discreet cough from Shadow; the black hedgehog casually pointed to Vanilla and hid a smile as the others caught glimpses of his partner's shamed face.

"Ah, yes; about that, well, one of the dummies caught me cold and, well…"

"Looks like you owe us both an ice-cream then mum", Cream chuckled as she tried to imagine her mother squealing in terror like a little girl; somehow it just got funnier the more she thought about it, "you know my favourite; raspberry swirl with three flakes and sprinkled with chocolate dust". Trying to regain a little dignity Vanilla moved into 'parenting' mode and waved a warning finger.

"You'll take what you're given and be grateful for it Bun". _Oops!_

"Mum!" Cream suddenly blushed as her childhood nickname was suddenly common knowledge, "you said you wouldn't tell anyone". _This is it; goodbye dignity, farewell image and RIP coolness_; she could see Tails turn towards her questioningly and raise one eyebrow.

"It was a nickname from school",_ better to get it over with now rather than later_, "someone said I was sweet as a cream bun and, well, it stuck with me for several years".

"It's cool" Tails said dismissively; it wasn't within his nature to kick someone when they were down over an embarrassing thing like this and anyway, compared to some of the things he'd been called in the past, Bun would have been welcome, "I've heard worse believe me".

"I'll vouch for that" Shadow agreed as he shrugged; names had never really mattered to him much, he'd never been one to take much notice of so-called 'cool'.

"Yeah, Bun's not too bad", Knuckles chipped in suddenly as, having dried his girlfriend's suit off as well as was possible in the circumstances, he used the same hand to pat Cream gently on the shoulder, "I still prefer floppy though".

"Funny thing that, so do I", Cream made to hastily change the subject and took off, pointing the way with a free hand as Tails joined her in the sky, "now onwards to the Snowstorm!"


	7. Chapter 6 Footsteps in the Sand

Chapter 6 – Footsteps in the Sand.

A/N: I take time out here to speak to a couple of my reviewers:

Komodo342 – A nerd suffering boredom – **_SACRALIGE!_** Nerdhood is the antithesis of boredom; that's the whole point of being a nerd – you've always got something to do, like searching the web for a new web comic or cataloguing bacteria according to ribosome size. That said, I suppose Red Dwarf wasn't much seen in the good ol' USA so I'll let you off that one, as long as you review this chapter for me . Don't worry, it's not as mushy as the last chapter and I promise, it's the last chapter to do with romance for a good long while (that stuff's so hard to write about properly).

Ri2 – Yes, Rowland is my surname, my first name's Isaac. Unfortunately, I never actually played Sonic Heroes but I'll take your word for the spooky castle bit. However, they were in teams of three in that game, and having your mates around always helps stop you feeling nervous .

After pummelling, grappling and sprawling their way over the Snowstorm at least three times, each pair trying to compete for the fastest time of the day, the eight took a swift respite in the shelter of Eskimo Joe's. After a lot of cajoling and gentle persuasion, Vanilla finally relented and treated her daughter and Amy to an ice-cream each on the promise that no-one else would hear about the little incident on the ghost train; Vanilla was under no illusion what her work-mates would say if they heard _that_ on the grapevine. As they tucked in, Knuckles approached the table, having been sent with Shadow to collect the rest of the order,

"Right, a tea with one sugar for you Vanilla, there's your cola Sonic, Shad's coffee; I'll leave that there, I just wanted mineral water, you two are sorted, ah yeah, this must be yours Tails". The fox accepted his milkshake and took a generous suck through the straw; licking his lips, he listened intently as someone realised they'd been left out.

"Knuckles", Rouge tapped her nails on the table, "forget something?" The echidna grinned and gestured as Shadow struggled towards the table; Rouge's eyes widened as she saw what the black hedgehog was carrying.

"Well I did say I'd treat you" he said by way of explanation as, with a sigh of relief, Shadow deposited the heavy bowl on the table; inside it was a colossal scoop of tutti-frutti ice-cream that seemed to be making a bid to escape the sides of its ceramic prison. Rouge blinked, for once stuck without a witty comeback – this had come like a punch from the blue and no mistake.

"Knuckles", she picked up the ridiculously tiny plastic spoon it came with and tried to even think about making a start on this monster, "you are a star; how did you know I liked tutti-frutti?" The echidna rubbed the back of his head as Shadow spoke up,

"Well, we kinda guessed, you being a fruit bat and all, that you'd appreciate this distinct flavour", the black hedgehog watched on amused as the bat started to demolish the giant ice-cream, "looks like we were right".

"You bet", Rouge grinned at the reactions of the others to her unexpected present, "well, I'll never finish this on my own; grab a spoon and dig in everyone". There was a rush to enjoy this unexpected bounty; as she ate, Rouge winked at Knuckles and tapped his spoon with her own,

"I was only kidding this morning you know".

"Just as well I wasn't then isn't it?" Rouge ran the conversation through her head and suddenly stuck her tongue out,

"Are you saying I'm not gorgeous?" Knuckles shook his head at this transparent obstinacy from his partner,

"Depends; how many miles do you reckon we'll have to run to burn off that little lot?" Rouge looked down and started,

"Not too far the way this lot are going at it", she plunged back in to try and rescue some of her sweet dessert, "hold fire you lot; I want some of that, it is mine".

"You snooze you lose slomo". Rouge winced at the comment from Sonic and her need for revenge clicked up another couple of notches.

After the sweets and drinks were finished and the bill settled, there was another consultation of the map; they had to find something not very strenuous to 'let their dinner go down' as Vanilla put it. As his green eyes scanned over the paper, Sonic saw the answer to two of his problems all at once – that was definitely not very energetic and Amy would love it. The only flaw in that plan was the fact that if he suggested it, his ego would take an almighty beating and he was under no illusion that once they had the chance his friends would tease him about this for weeks if they were feeling generous. _Well, she made a sacrifice for me, only right I do the same_;

"Hey I know", Sonic took a deep breath and slowly pointed to the Tunnel of Love, "why, er, whydon'twegothere?" Despite his best efforts he went red as the others finally managed to convince themselves that Sonic, Sonic of all people, had just suggested the Tunnel of Love. To his eternal relief and gratitude, Vanilla was fractionally faster off the mark than the rest,

"You know", she pretended to scrutinise the map closely, "he's right as well; this is the only place that fulfils the criteria we need, unless anyone fancies Kiddie's Corner?"

"Um, no, there's fine", Knuckles was looking at Sonic askew; _what's his game, he's up to something, but what?_ "well, let's go then". All eight Mobians left Eskimo Joe's; all a little mystified as to what was going on with Sonic's sudden, uncharacteristic choice of fun.

Vanilla led them as they walked casually towards their next destination; Sonic could almost feel the desire of the others to determine his modus operandi wash over him like a tide. Amy was a little apart from him and seemed to be talking to Shadow quietly, though he couldn't hear what she was saying as they approached the entryway to the Tunnel of Love. Just as it hove into view, Vanilla turned and spoke up loudly,

"Right, time for the responsible adult bit; if anyone needs to go, do so now". Tails nodded and scooted off to the conveniences nearby and, to the blue blur's horror, Amy and Rouge joined him. _Oh boy_; he knew exactly what was coming next; as soon as his only shield was out of sight he fell under the paralysing glare of several questioning gazes. He knew the question, but the spokesperson surprised him slightly,

"Okay Sonic", it was Shadow who addressed him, the other hedgehog having trouble concealing a huge smile as his previous suspicions looked set to be confirmed, "spill". Realising stalling was ultimately pointless, he sighed and scuffed one shoe, looking at the ground as he mumbled his explanation,

"Amy told me she, ah, didn't like, er, spooks, so I figured going on the ghost train must have been hard for her; I should have, umm, sat it out with her, but, I went along anyway", he raised his flushed face, a little relieved that no-one had burst out laughing yet, "so, er, I owed her one and, this looked like the best way to set things right; if she can do something scary for me I can do something embarrassing for her right?"

"Oh my God", Knuckles reeled forwards, face thunderstruck, "Vanilla, get the others, call the ambulance, we've got a sick hedgehog here", _here we go then_; Sonic braced himself – he'd resigned himself to this the second he'd pointed out where to go next, "he's been bitten by the love-bug; stay away, it's contagious". Cream back-pedalled and crossed her arms,

"No, I can't get that, I haven't been immunised against that one yet, Mummy help!" She sprang back behind Vanilla as the elder rabbit smiled at the shamed Sonic,

"That was a big thing to do Sonic; you lot shouldn't make fun of him – especially you Knuckles; from what I heard earlier you and Rouge had to torture each other to discover your feelings". It was Sonic's turn to snigger as the echidna looked at the floor; perhaps fortunately it was at this stage of the proceedings that the absent trio managed to return to the main group.

"Sorry we took so long", Rouge's trained eyes took in the situation in an instant, "anything exciting happen?"

"No" Vanilla assured her, perhaps a little too forcefully as Knuckles mouthed 'tell you later' to his girlfriend. Tails, who had also caught the sign from the echidna, glanced at Cream; the rabbit smiled knowingly back at him. There was a serene silence as they finally rounded the turn and approached the Tunnel of Love.

"Have a good ride".

"What", Vanilla turned at her daughter's sudden declaration, "you're coming too?" Tails pulled a face as he and Cream backed away from the ride.

"Nah, why would we want to go into something like that; we're sitting this one out". Sonic folded his arms and shook his head warningly,

"That's what you think buster".

"No, that's what I know", at a nod both he and Cream suddenly lifted off, out of reach of Sonic and Shadow, who had been attempting to sneak up on them, "we're not going and you can't make us".

"Sounds like a challenge to me" Rouge declared as she spread her wings and took to the sky, a devilish smirk on her face as she played aerial chase with the duo; they had, however, been expecting something like this and stayed together to frustrate the bat's attempt at capturing them. As the game passed a minute, Vanilla rolled her eyes and shouted up to them all,

"You three, stop it for a second".

"Only when you say we don't have to go" two voices shouted back down; that was enough for Shadow. Keeping one eye on the aerial tussle, the black hedgehog silently signalled Knuckles and the echidna moved slowly into position, eyes to the sky as he waited for the perfect time to spring. _Nearly, ohh, so close and, yes!_ Nodding suddenly, the guardian charged; Shadow cupped his hands and let the echidna catch a boost into the air – Knuckles caught the wind and streaked towards his target like a missile. Tails never saw him coming and was netted by the echidna.

"Ahh, no fair", the foxboy struggled as Knuckles glided gently to earth, "Cream, fly away, get safe".

"No chance"; without Tails there to help, Rouge had the edge of experience in flying and swiftly captured the airborne rabbit. The pair resigned themselves to defeat as Knuckles and Rouge exchanged a high-five.

"Okay, you got us, but we gave you a run for your money".

"I'll admit that", Rouge agreed whole-heartedly – she hadn't expected that to last anywhere near as long as it had, "but you're our prisoners now, so march!"

"Don't we get a last request?" Tails pleaded as he was led away to the Tunnel; Amy sniggered at the fox's forlorn expression,

"Not for this, no".

"Didn't think so, but it was worth a try". _Well, I suppose it's not so bad; better than Kiddie's Corner_; if a part of either Tails or Cream was actually looking forwards to this neither admitted it as the gatepost suddenly reared up before them, a fleet of white swan boats tethered nearby.

Sonic watched as Shadow and Vanilla disappeared inside the pink tunnel, the back of their swan boat lost as it rounded the first bend. The dog servicing the ride smiled as he beckoned both himself and Amy forwards,

"You two next then; jump in". Sonic clambered aboard first, wary as this ride was on water and he still hadn't been able to completely get rid of his aversion to the substance; too many bad memories of small, submerged places causing him no end of grief for water to be completely forgiven for all its ills. Still, as the boat finished rocking and Amy sat down on the cushioned seat, he realised he was in no danger here; he doubted there was enough room to slip down the side of the boat even if his belt did come loose. As the craft rocked forwards, he turned to hear Amy's excited voice,

"Sonikku, this is perfect; thank you so much". He smiled over at her, internally bracing himself for the fifteen or so minutes of torment he'd have to sit through on this ride.

"It's nothing Ames; you sat with me on Shiver's Revenge even though you didn't like ghosts, so I owe you one". The pink hedgehog smiled at him, placing her hand on top of his in a mirror of what had happened barely hours ago,

"Thanks Sonic, I appreciate it; I know this isn't your idea of fun". The hero tried to act casual as he shrugged, trying to show this was all just water under the bridge, but as the first hint of pinkness became visible around the bend he winced a little. He looked over as Amy yawned and stretched as much as was possible,

"Tired Ames?" he asked jovially as he tried to suppress his own yawn,

"Yeah", she put a hand over her mouth as the soft, rocking motion of the vessel she was in attempted to lull her to sleep, "I didn't sleep well and, um, I'm drowsy". Sonic chuckled as she struggled to keep her eyes open,

"Here", he rubbed his shoulder and buffed it up, "lean on this; it's a fully qualified head rest". Amy shuffled a little closer to him and he saw the tiredness in her eyes; it was enough to remind him that the previous night hadn't been the best night's sleep he'd ever had.

"You sure?" _I can barely stay awake_.

"Yeah", Sonic assured her as the sleepy atmosphere began to work its magic on him, "just relax and go to sleep Ames; you look like you need it". He felt her place her head gently on his shoulder; he doubted it was more than thirty seconds before she was breathing gently and rhythmically in bliss. _Typical;_ Sonic smiled as he flicked one of her errant spines back behind her head_; all that and she goes out like a light. Not that I blame her; it's warm and comfortable_; Sonic's eyes flickered; _the water's making the boat rock, it's comfort, comfortable_; he sank lower in his seat, head leaning against Amy's, thoughts becoming increasingly clouded; _the water's lapping, sounds like a dre, a dreaamm_. Not two minutes after boarding the Tunnel of Love ride, Sonic Maurice Hedgehog and Amy Rose were both sound asleep.

_This time, all was still; had she reached her goal now? Was there no more reason to run? The glow was nearby, the same one corner preventing her seeing her summoner. She could not move, her physical body was paralysed, unwilling to respond to her demands for movement. Her body would not suffice, she strained forwards with her eyes, with her senses, with her mind, trying to reach for something…_

A long way away, from its eternal prison, something reached back.

_"Heeeeeelllllllllppppppp mmmememmeeeeee"._ _The same dull rumble, not a plead, more of a demand for aid. Her mouth could not move, her lips and tongue could not form the question that bedevilled her; she thought of it and moulded it with her mind._

_"Where are you?" Silence; had her question been heard? Had the mysterious entity that forced her to present herself for its scrutiny expected to be questioned? The rumble began again; no more questions now._

_"Yooooouuuuu wiiiilllllll ssssseeeeee the waaaayyyyyyy". The glow was receding, leaving her alone in the darkness once more._

Deep in the subterranean catacomb, the being pulsed with an emotion it recalled as excitement; meaningful contact had at last been established with the recipient mind. The path was known, all that remained was to show the recipient the path that had already been trodden.

Sonic was jerked rudely back to wakefulness as a sudden gasp of alarm filled his ears; pulling himself into a sitting position he glanced to the left.

"Amy", his emotions swung violently from confusion to concern as he saw the hedgehog girl; she was reaching forwards blindly, fingers grasping empty air; her breathing was quick and ragged. Sonic was seized by a sudden fear as he caught sight of her face; she was white as chalk under her rose fur and her eyes were unfocused, but it was her expression that caught his gaze in a steel vice. It was a terrifying mix of fear, regret and concern that spoke of indescribable loss and the shame of not being able to recoup that which was taken. It was this dread gaze that forced Sonic's hand; he couldn't sit and watch this, he had to do something.

"Amy", Sonic reached over and gripped one of her arms gently; he barely suppressed his own gasp of shock as he felt the iciness of her skin even through his glove, "Ames, take it easy, it's cool, just, just relax". _Huh, what, I, I'll find you…Sonic?_ She turned to face the blue hedgehog, mind recalling a measure of clarity as she tried desperately to separate the dream from the reality.

"S,sonic", she shook her head as he regarded her with a concerned eye,

"Yeah, the one and only", his tone lacked the usual light-heartedness that accompanied one of his jokes, "are you, no that's a stupid question, what's wrong?" Amy put a paw on her forehead as she took deep breaths, trying to recall what she had seen in her mind's eye even as she answered the blue hedgehog by her side.

"I, er", Amy realised she couldn't tell him what she'd just seen; how could she – 'yes, a big red glow asked me for help and said something about leaving an address later' – she doubted it would sound convincing however she phrased it, "I had a bad dream", she gave a wan smile, "don't worry, it's nothing". Sonic shook his head, face serious,

"No, it's not nothing Ames", he removed his hand from her arm, flexing it to try and restore some of the lost warmth as he took a close look at her pale, drawn complexion, "not meaning to be rude but you look like Death, you're skin's like ice and", he smiled slightly as she failed to hide a huge yawn, "you're completely exhausted". _Pointless denying it_; Amy nodded sadly as the rest of her body belatedly reported in; her nose was stuffed up, she felt like someone had clogged both her ears with cotton wool and everything from the neck down felt listless and dull.

"I'd be lying if I said I'm a hundred percent". _That's the truth_; Sonic quickly made his mind up about what to do next; _ah well, I was always faster than the Blizzard anyway_.

"Ames, I reckon after this ride's over, I better run you home", he carried on quickly before she could appeal against this decision, "you need to get a hot bath, a couple of paracetamols and an early night". _He's right, I need to deal with something like this; I need to think and figure out what the hey is going on_.

"I think you're right Sonic, I don't feel very well", she suddenly favoured him with pleading look, "but I can take a taxi, no need for you…"

"Ames, I'm running you home and that's the last word. I'm going to make sure you get to your apartment as soon as is possible and anyway", he favoured her with a slight smile, "what's the point in me staying if you've gone?"

"Twinkle Park at Christmas?" she pleaded but he quashed the argument instantly.

"You know what I meant Ames – there no point me staying here without my partner, they'd find me out and I'd be ask to leave anyway or pay up". _You coward! – what, it's true – that's not the reason and you know it – yes, but I'm not saying it – I can't believe you sometimes_. Amy's face fell a little at his reasoning but, she told herself, he was still leaving to make sure she was alright and she owed him some thanks for that.

"Alright Sonic, you win", as he raised an eyebrow she favoured him with her special smile; the one that made him melt whenever she favoured him with it's benevolence – even when she was ill and pale, she could still manage to look radiant in his eyes. The warmth from the previous night stole its way back into the blue hedgehog's body and he found himself returning the smile almost unwittingly,

"Don't mention it Ames". Even as he said it, Sonic became aware of a sudden chink of light at the end of the tunnel and realised with a strangely heavy heart that their time left in Twinkle Park was now measured in minutes rather than hours.

Their boat bumped gently into the rear of the swan vessel docked at the exit of the ride and killed its forward momentum completely. Amy gingerly rose into a half-crouch and picked her way clear off the side of the boat with Sonic not far behind her. The rose hedgehog caught sight of Shadow and Vanilla as they waited on a bench not far from the exit.

"Hey guys", Sonic waved over before turning to her, "go wait with them Ames, take a seat. I'll tell the others as they get off, cool?"

"You got it Sonic; see you in a minute". He gave a thumbs-up as she walked over to where the other two were sitting, giving a weary nod as she saw both examine her gait and her face closely,

"Yeah, I know I'm not going to win any beauty contests any time soon". Shadow stood to let her sit down; _she looks awful, must be some kind of bug_. However, before he could voice any concerns, Amy had jumped the gun,

"Sorry guys, but I'm really not feeling so good; I'm gonna have to call it a day here". Vanilla felt the younger girl's forehead and nodded in agreement, inwardly wondering if something was going around and if so, how best to deal with it if Cream came down with it.

"What are you planning; early night?"

"Yeah, I reckon I'll have to sleep it off", _can't tell her the other reason I need to sleep_, "Sonic's going to run me home".

"Really?" Shadow was intrigued – had Sonic admitted something in that tunnel?

"Yeah; without me he'll have to pay to stay in"; _obviously not_; the black hedgehog repressed a sigh as he realised that was classic Sonic at its finest. Vanilla tutted slightly under her breath before reaching into her handbag and producing her keys,

"Okay, I'm sorry to hear that Ames",

"You and me both"; the pink hedgehog gave a reluctant smile as Shadow hid a smile behind a false cough,

"Tell Sonic to run to mine when you're home", she offered her front door key as Amy saw the logic behind that idea, "he can wait there for us and he'll be able to use the Tornado to get his presents home safely".

"The fact you've got cable also won't be missed" Shadow muttered as he shot the blue hedgehog a glance with his red eyes as he greeted Tails and Cream. After a brief second of talking, Cream approached the larger group, Sonic obviously waiting with Tails for Knuckles and Rouge.

"Mr Sonic said you two were leaving", the younger rabbit pulled up next to the others and looked up at Amy sadly; Mr Sonic hadn't been lying either, her 'big sister' really didn't look well at all. Noting her saddened face, Amy somehow managed to kindle a tiny speck of happiness out of her inner mire of confusion and doubt; she managed to smile half-convincingly and speak in her normal, bubbly voice,

"Don't worry Cream, I'll be just fine; you concentrate on having a good time with everyone else", she reached down and gently tweaked the rabbit's nose, "your mum's going to keeping an eye on you for me; if I get any bad reports of you looking down in the mouth I'll be round to have a word". _Yay, that's Amy - she's going to be alright_; Cream smiled and flew up to return the tweak,

"I'll have fun, and I'll keep the photos for you".

"Good, now if I were you", Amy cast a glance backwards that Cream followed, "I'd vanish before Sonic finds out you called him Mr." The rabbit grimaced as she realised her slip; she'd been getting better at avoiding the dreaded M-words but still had occasional lapses in concentration. Shadow also noticed the other four approaching and, as they came within earshot, hid a smile and called over,

"You two", he obviously meant Sonic and Tails, as they were both trying hard not to laugh with the pair of guardians glaring all kinds of promises of pain at them should they fail to keep quiet, "what's so funny?" Tails managed to give a coherent answer as he jerked a thumb at Knuckles,

"Ask the great romancer over there"; the echidna averted his gaze, beginning to burn up as he felt the full weight of an explanation silently demanded by the other six Mobians. He gathered his courage, took a deep breath and was thrown right off track as Rouge answered for him. The bat was an expert in these matters; she combined the right tone of nonchalance with just a hint of cool to take the heat out of the situation.

"So he had his hand on my knee, so what?" It would have worked on most other crowds, but then again, Sonic had never belonged in a normal crowd,

"Nothing wrong with it, but I'm just amazed you've got a knee left at all…"

"Don't you have somewhere to go?" Knuckles spoke without thinking and immediately drew himself short; he turned to Amy and apologised profusely, realising that Sonic had been right as he did.

"Sorry to hear about that Ames", Rouge offered a conciliatory hand as the pink hedgehog forgave the hot-headed echidna, "give us a ring when you're feeling better; I'll have to hit the January sales with you; I'll show you how to pick up a bargain at all the best places".

"Thanks Rouge, I'd like that" Amy assured the bat as she hugged Tails gently, the kit promising her that he'd drop all her gifts off the next day. Sonic appeared at her shoulder as she said her last goodbyes and slowly headed for the park gate with the blue hedgehog. Though she was sorry to miss the rest of the day and even sorrier that by leaving she might have been causing the rest of her friends to worry about her, deep down she felt a little relief that soon she'd be in a private place, free to try and plan for whatever these dreams and visions meant, and how she could help this mysterious thing that was trying to contact her.

Sonic's estimation had been right; the roads had been gritted since the morning and, though wet, the tarmac was runnable. Amy arrived home sooner that even she had anticipated as Sonic simply breezed through the traffic as though it wasn't there, dodging the few cars that were present with grace and agility as she held herself still in his grip; if she slipped she could unbalance her ride and that could have been disastrous. Luckily this wasn't the first time she'd been carried by Sonic, so keeping herself in the right position was a breeze and in no time at all she was placed on the ground next to her apartment block.

"Here we are Ames", Sonic looked up the building as she shook herself to stay awake for just a little longer, "need a hand to get to your room?"

"Nah", _please Sonic, just go now, I'll be fine but I need to crash_; "I reckon I can handle twenty or so stairs, I only live on the first floor". The blue hedgehog's face fell as she said that but, as the pale sun caught her pink fur fully, he realised she looked a little better than she did not so long ago. He shrugged casually and patted her shoulder,

"All right, I'll leave you here. Give me a call if you need anything, got it?"

"Loud and clear; you got Vanilla's key?" Sonic produced it from his pocket and twirled it around his finger, smiling at his trick,

"You bet, now get yourself in bed with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate". Amy rolled her eyes and waved him away; Sonic first took his cue and then took off, whipping her hair backwards as she watched him go. When she was sure he could see her no more, she let out a sigh of relief and walked inside, fumbling for her own keys as the strange tiredness that had descended on her earlier in the Tunnel reappeared and threatened to pull her under.

Never had the stairs leading to her apartment seemed so many or so tall; she almost had to literally drag herself up to get level with her door. Fortunately, her key slid neatly into the lock and clicked the door open, allowing her to enter her home and push the door to, the lock automatically sealing itself behind her. She didn't even mange to take off her coat, the need was so great; she simply tottered forwards, reeled into the door of her bedroom and stumbled inside. Her great, beautiful bed rose up to greet her as she collapsed forwards onto it, asleep almost before her head touched the pillow.

The cavern filled with a sudden red glow; the recipient mind had become accessible again. There was no need to wait any longer; the path must be exposed to the recipient. This state of imprisonment would soon be repealed and freedom once again attained. And with freedom, came the chance of memories fallen becoming memories enshrined once more. Contact was made…

_Not on the ground this time; suspended, floating in the air, rising high above a great desert. She saw all and moved like a great eagle, the sands revolving for her examination as she scanned for something, something she didn't know exactly what but the itch, the burning thirst for this knowledge was consuming her. She had to search unceasingly, no rest until it was found, no shelter until what was known could be learned again. Over the barren waste she flew, the vague silhouette of mountains slowly rearing up in the distance as a landmark for her to gravitate towards._

_Her eyes were the keenest; something on the sand held her encompassing gaze for a second and she held it immobile in her vision. A path, clearly demarked by deep, deliberate footsteps in the golden desert soil preceded her way as she heeded the call. Onwards, onwards she forced the winds to carry her faster, the need growing ever more desperate as the footsteps led to her goal. The sand rushed past her winged form forcing her self on no tiredness taking root in her form as it hove into view. The end of her journey, she could feel it as she slowed her heedless rush, hovering overhead as her vision informed her; the footsteps that had led the way came to the mouth of this small, bottomless void and then vanished, leading her into the darkness. She could not descend, her range of movement did not allow it, but as she observed, something from the darkness was rising to meet her; deep within the nether abyss a tiny speck of light flickered into life. Red light._

_"Coooommmmeee toooo mmmmmeeeeeeee!"_

"Hey guys", Sonic quickly changed the channel as he heard a key enter the front door; a primal survival instinct told him with all the subtlety of a half-brick in a sock that if the others discovered he'd been watching the Christmas special of Pokemon his life wouldn't be worth living, "how was the Blizzard?"

"Not too bad" Tails answered carefully; he didn't want the hedgehog to think he'd missed out on much, "it wasn't as fast as running with you". _That's my brother_; Sonic deduced from the fox's tone of voice that Tails had just been through one of the times of his life but was hiding it for his benefit.

"Nice try", the hedgehog's disembodied voice came from the living room as he lifted himself off the settee after lifting the sleeping form of Chocola off his lap and placing him gently to the side, "you had a blast didn't you?"

"Yeah", Knuckles hung Vanilla's coat up in the shoe cupboard as Sonic joined the group, "how's Amy?" The blue hedgehog answered as the rest of the group looked on, curious to know how their friend was faring,

"She said she was going to crash for the night; I'll phone tomorrow and make sure she's okay". _Thank you Sonic_; Rouge shivered in anticipation as she realised this was it; casually placing her coat in the cupboard alongside Vanilla's, the bat began innocuously enough,

"That was a brave thing to do Sonic, giving up your day to make sure she was all right". _Hmm, that's a bit suspect from you_; Sonic was apprehensive about this but had no idea just how cunningly baited the trap he was in danger from actually was. Keeping his guard as high as possible the hedgehog replied cautiously,

"Not really, just something I'd do for a friend".

"Oh really", Rouge gave a coy smile as Knuckles raised an eyebrow at her unusual behaviour, "are you sure it's just friendship?" _Right, so that's your game is it Rouge_; Sonic returned her cool smile with one of his own as he realised what she was trying to do to embarrass him.

"Perfectly sure thank you". _Just one last thing to go_; Rouge opened the hedgehog up,

"So you treat all your friends the same?" That was unexpected and faint unease surfaced in Sonic's mind but Rouge had him cornered; there was only one thing he could reasonably say in front of all the others,

"Yes, of course I do".

"In that case", the bat looked a little aggrieved as she managed to somehow keep a smile off her face, picturing Sonic's reaction to her observation, "why didn't we all get jewellery for Christmas?"

_You sneak_; Sonic felt his jaw drop and his face burn as Rouge explained to the others, smirking as the hedgehog squirmed like a worm on a hook,

"Didn't any of you see Amy's new ear piece? The one that looked like a rose? Where do you reckon it came from, Santa Claus – no, it was our shy little hero over there", she pointed at Sonic and, noting the way he was reacting to this unprecedented announcement decided to sugar the pill a little, "it's a nice piece as well, you've got a good eye for the sparklers Sonic".

"Thanks" he said through gritted teeth as Knuckles seized on this information,

"Oh no, it's gone too deep, he's a lost cause; the love bug claims another victim", he mimed taking a hat off his head and holding it over his chest, "farewell Sonic Hedgehog". Sonic smiled ruefully and shook his head this comment; he should have known Rouge was gunning for him after last night and that particular present had just been an accident waiting to happen. The best thing to do was just play along,

"Well if I am lost to the love bug", he grinned at Rouge again, "it makes you wonder where I caught it from doesn't it?" She goggled at the inflection and crossed her arms but before she could react, Tails sprang into action; the fox had been reminded of the way Sonic had teased him over that picture and went in for revenge.

"Well, going by the facts I know I'd say you caught it off Amy last night under the mistletoe", _you slime_; Sonic's face dropped into pure horror as seven questioning, almost disbelieving, glances ranged in on him.

"You", Cream was having trouble comprehending this, "you and Rosie _kissed!_" There was no way out; he had to go down in flames with his ego,

"Er, yeah, we did". Sonic flinched, expecting the gales of laughter to crash into him and scatter his self-confidence to the four winds.

"About time"; Sonic had been prepared for almost anything but that – he looked around agog to see Shadow breath a sigh of relief, "took you long enough, slowpoke".

"But…"

"No buts", it was Knuckles this time; the echidna was smiling but there was no malice or cruelty behind it, "we've all seen it Sonic – come on, dropping out of a trip like that? That's not something you do for just any kind of friend is it?"

"Um…" Tails himself stepped forwards and punched his elder brother lightly on the arm, shaking his head at the hedgehog's apparent incoherence,

"Come on Sonic; it's not that big a deal really".

"Not for you maybe", relief poured out of the blue hedgehog as he realised he'd got away with it; no-one here was going to make fun of him for this, "but I, heh, I can't tell Amy, not yet, I just…" Knuckles gave a sudden laugh and slapped his thigh as he saw his own internal struggle mirrored in the hedgehog's face.

"Remind you anything Rouge?" The bat saw the same thing and nodded, smiling as Sonic and the others watched on confused,

"You said it; just take your time Sonic, you'll find the right second eventually". _I'm spared, praise the Lord_; the first hints of cockiness found their way back to the hedgehog's manner as he answered the former treasure huntress,

"Let's just hope it arrives at a more opportunistic time than yours did; I don't want to have to be reduced to screaming before I'll spill my guts". The bat stuck her tongue out cheekily,

"It was worth it".

"I bet". Vanilla clapped her hands to break up the word duel,

"Okay you two, that's enough", she turned to the kitchen and pointed at the table, "help me get the food out and we'll have a last meal before you all have to leave".

"Sure thing" all seven chorused; there was a rush of hands to help lay the table and gather the condiments as Sonic was filled in on all the excitement he'd missed; as he listened, he conscientiously catalogued and remembered every morsel of delight he could. As the friends ate and talked, Sonic pictured Amy recovering from whatever she'd contracted and smiled; in his mind she was tucked up in bed and sleeping off whatever pestilence had caught her off-guard.

The reality, however, was rather different.

_I remember it said I would see the way_; Amy scrawled her thoughts down randomly on the piece of paper she now held; she had woken from her scrying dream after not three hours of sleep and hadn't been able to rest since. She was feverishly trying to recall and record everything she had seen and heard in these visionary dreams so far, scribing them down to try and see some kind of pattern, something that could help point the way to whoever was calling for help. She was bone tired but some insane force of will had possessed her body and she was unable to sleep until she had exercised it fully, finding the pattern that these dreams would unlock. The pencil in her grip swayed unsteadily as she noted down the most recent and, for now, most important dream so far. _I was flying, following a set of footsteps over a desert, tracking them down; they were near a mountain_ – she finished, remembering that she had finished seeing the tiny spot of redness from the mouth of the tunnel. Was it the entrance to the tunnel she had been running down in her previous visions? Why was the same red glow always present? She kneaded her forehead with the knuckles of one hand – the dreams themselves just suggested that she had to go down a tunnel to reach the mysterious red thing, but the last suggested something else. It was there, elusively hovering just out of range of her exhausted mind as she felt her eyes begin to flutter shut once more. Her mind gave one last effort to solve this riddle; _a tunnel in a desert, but I've never been in any desert, and the last time I was under ground was…_

Amy was mostly a visual person; when she pictured something with her mind it was usually in colour and crystal clear – the other four senses usually had a very small input into the image she was trying to create. Therefore, she later found it surprising that, rather than a sudden flash of colour in her mind she actually heard a perfectly audible click as her mind made the necessary connection. _The last time I was under ground was…_

Click.

…_just before these dreams started!_

The pink hedgehog snapped her eyes open, shaking from head to toe as she realised it made sense. Burning with expectation, she stood up and quickly crossed the room to find what she needed. As the atlas tumbled open, she flicked through the pages until, with a trembling finger, she traced the picturesque printed page down, covering the area she suspected with a thrill of both horror and triumph. Triumph because she was now sure of where the resting place of this creature was.

Horror because she remembered what had awaited her down in the darkness last time – a base of Eggman's and the impassive, impenetrable shell of a Mobian that was Seraph. She shivered as the memories coursed through her; she had hated the journey to rescue Rouge but had managed to go through with it both because the others had been with her and she had needed to save her friend. _This time I'll be alone, and I'm not even sure what this thing is_; as she replaced the book and sat back down, the pink hedgehog held her aching head as the realisation that the decision of what to do next rested firmly in her hands. As she thought, her mind began to drift and before she could consciously do anything to stop herself, she was away once more.

_"I know"._ _She was above the tunnel, mineshaft, she corrected herself as the memory surged through her like an electric charge, looking down at the small area of revolving red light as it flickered like a candle flame in the deeper darkness._

_"Coooooooommmmmmeeeee tooooo mmmmmmeeeeeee". The same insisting plea, the call for aid, it left her no choice. She nodded once and felt the grip that held her above the portal to her fate release, her summoner had the confirmation it needed and now let her go, drift back to restful dreams. As she floated away, she cast one final glance back to the floor of the desert she recalled the footsteps that pointed the way to her destination._

_The footsteps in the sand were her own._

A/N: So the way is shown and the gauntlet thrown down. What will our intrepid pink hedgehog do next? Watch this space…


	8. Chapter 7 Adding Chaotix to Confusion

Chapter 7 – Adding Chaotix to Confusion.

A/N: You've probably guessed from the title who's appearing in this chapter, but once more, I wave my wizardly wand a la Harry Potter and, shazam! Charmy is not the hyper six year old everyone seems to think he is – in this he's about fifteen and only slightly annoying. No that's made clear, as always, some words of thanks:

Sonicron – Glad you're still enjoying it; hope the schoolwork's easing up for you buddy. Good to hear your reviews. As to your point about Big, that'll become important later – as in, in the next fic after this (what, you didn't think there'd be a sequel :-))

Komodo342 – Ah, my dear, embattled brother in nerd-hood; too well I understand your suffering at the hands of a cruel, cruel world (and evil web administrators). I offer you some precious words of comfort; if ever you feel the pressure to re-conform to dreaded normality, recall this famous quote from that very pinnacle of nerd-hood itself – the Nerd-God incarnate – Bill Gates:

'People should be nice to twits and nerds – they usually end up working for them'.

May your collection of manga and comics never get caught in the rain. Your fellow soldier in the trenches of geekdom – I. Rowland.

The last of the Christmas bubble and squeak was eaten and the clearing up was done; as the stars began to shine overhead, the only thing left to do was for the vast majority of the heroes to bid farewell to their hostesses as they left for their own lodgings.

"Thanks for everything Vanilla"; Rouge hugged the rabbit as she stood on the doorstep, Knuckles stooping at her side to receive a peck on the cheek from Cream.

"See you soon Mr Knuckles". The guardian rubbed her oversized ears as he stood up,

"Take care of yourself floppy", Knuckles stretched to full height as Tails, having loaded the back of the Tornado's jeep mode as much as was possible, approached the two rabbits and mustered his courage,

"Er, okay, thank you for letting me stay Vanilla". The elder Mobian smiled down at the kit as he shuffled on the spot, darting tiny, almost imperceptible glances at her daughter as though trying to figure out the best thing to do next. _Looks like that crush might be working two ways._

"You know you're more than welcome Tails". The fox gave a weak smile and then offered Cream his hand,

"Thanks for going to the Park with me". She shook the hand timidly, not meeting Tails' eyes as she mumbled a response,

"My pleasure, thank you as well". The two separated as Shadow extended his own hand to Vanilla, his cool demeanour tempered by a warm smile as he offered his own thanks for the rabbit letting his stay at her home.

"Just as long as you don't mind accompanying me to the next cute couples give-away, we'll call it quits".

"Consider it done", the ebon hedgehog agreed before looking around distractedly, "now where's Sonic?"

"Just coming" the blue hedgehog shouted from the kitchen, emerging a second later carrying an armful of the pots and bowls they'd all used to carry their own dishes to Vanilla's house. Vanilla and Cream moved respectfully to the side as Sonic carefully walked outside, the assorted kitchen equipment jangling at every step as he headed for the Tornado. Tails popped the boot open and, after spinning his tails to get an aerial view and arrange a few of the bulkier presents, helped his brother pack the condiments into the back of his vehicle. After wiping his hands clear, Sonic reappeared at the front door.

"Sorry about that, but at least we're ready to go now", he shook Vanilla by the paw and then turned, to find Cream's nose level with his own. Before he could register anything about this she'd hugged him around the neck.

"Thanks for looking after my big sister Sonic"; as he gingerly supported her dangling body weight, she shifted in his grip to whisper in his ear, "Cheese and Chocola say thanks too; they're big Pokemon fans". Sonic somehow managed to both hide his expressions to this discovery and fight off the resultant threat of a heart attack as he whispered back,

"Keep it under your hat or I'll have to go Elmer Fudd on your tail". Cream giggled as she let go and floated back to the ground, waving as her friends slowly departed for the Tornado; she kept her eye on Tails as he opened the door and hopped into the driving seat. _I wish I could drive like him_; she'd always envied the fox that particular gift – if her calculations were right it'd be at least six or seven years before she could even start to learn to drive. As the tail lights of the jeep cleared the front of her house and were swallowed by the night, something squeaked in her ear and Cheese dropped into her line of vision from above.

"Chao?" All her reservations and regrets melted away as she stroked the top of the chao's head and felt his brother settle down on her shoulder.

"Yeah I know; I've got a lot of things to be grateful for, speaking of which", she looked up at her mum, who nodded acquiescingly as she second-guessed the question, "shall we take a little nibble?"

"Chao, chao!"

Tails pulled his car to a stop a short while later, allowing Sonic and Shadow to disembark and pop open the rear of the jeep. The other three also took the opportunity to stretch their legs and help the hedgehogs take all their assorted presents and cookery utensils up to their shared apartment. When all was cleared away, the pair escorted their friends back to the car; Knuckles and Rouge would be staying one more night at Tails' home in the Mystic Ruins and he'd fly them back tomorrow with assorted presents. Sonic shook the echidna's paw as Knuckles smiled,

"See you around Sonic; I'm sorry you and Amy had to miss part of the day". The blue hedgehog shook his head and waved the apology away as though it were some kind of irritating fly,

"Don't sweat it Knucks, it's hardly your fault. I'll tell Ames you said goodbye when I see her next".

"Thanks", the guardian stepped away to say goodbye to Shadow as Rouge examined the blue hedgehog exasperatedly; when he didn't move after several seconds she sighed and put her hands on her hips.

"Well, aren't you going to say goodbye to me?"

"Goodbye me" he replied nonchalantly, keeping his poker face as Rouge made a rapid deduction – _he's still upset about that bit with Amy's ear stud_.

"Oh come on, you can do better than that".

"I certainly can, but I'm not going to". The bat pouted a little to hide a smile; she enjoyed her verbal fencing with Sonic as he was a bit more on her wavelength than Knuckles was and made an intriguing opponent – it was a bit like trying to argue with a reflection of herself. She offered her hand just, she remembered, as he had the night before when Big had entombed them with his snowball surprise.

"Get over here and say goodbye, spiky". Sonic reluctantly approached and took the hand, smiling eventually as Knuckles and Shadow looked on,

"See you around batgirl". She suddenly stepped in close and looked directly into Sonic's emerald green eyes,

"Listen here hedgepig – only Knuckles gets to call me that and live, get it?"

"Is that because he's the better martial artist?" _Argh, man down, man down, send in reinforcements_; the bat gritted her teeth,

"No, it's because he can run faster than me". Sonic cast a glance at the echidna as Knuckles stifled laughter; this was really entertaining to watch,

"Good idea Knucks, I like your planning; fatten her up with ice-cream and…" Sonic dodged out the way as Rouge lashed out with a soft kick in his general direction. Laughing, the hedgehog danced towards the Tornado and hastily shook his brother's paw. Tails kept his eyes on Rouge as he gabbled his goodbyes,

"See you around Sonic – now look out!" The blue blur ducked inside his apartment block as the bat steamed and shouted after him,

"You better run", she turned towards the other three Mobians and wagged a warning finger, "and one word out of you three will result in instant and painful revenge".

"But of course Rouge", Shadow overdid the pacifist act with remarkable aplomb; it was the only way he could avoid losing it completely, "no-one here would ever dream of hurting your delicate feelings".

"Just as well, I'd hate to have to break your delicate bones". Knuckles didn't even bother to hide his grin as he pointed to the Tornado, where Tails was gently bumping his head against the steering wheel to prevent hysterics overtaking him.

"Come on second best, our ride awaits – take care Shads". Rouge nodded at the black hedgehog as he waved them off; Tails gave a thumbs-up as he pulled the car away from the kerb. When he was perfectly sure that he was out of range of even Rouge's super-sensitive hearing, Shadow took a deep breath, threw his head back and burst out laughing.

The night passed peacefully enough for all who slept through it - it was the new dawn that presented one particular person with an extremely intriguing problem. Amy had awoken to find pale sunlight streaming in through her window and a piece of paper embedded to her cheek; she'd fallen asleep at the desk she'd been working on. _Ow, that's stiff as a board_; she winced as she gingerly raised herself up from her slumped over position, grimacing as her back complained about this in long series of sharp clicks and soft popping noises. As she massaged some life back into her dormant body, her eye absent-mindedly caught the clock hanging on the wall and she started as the time of 12:33 was displayed on the wide face. She'd been asleep, as well as she could work out, for over ten hours and she still felt tired even now. _I need breakfast, a shower, then I need to sit down and work out what I'm going to do next_; the pink hedgehog shuddered a little from both apprehension and excitement as she remembered the flash of inspiration that had occurred last night – she knew where her unknown contact was calling from. As she headed towards the shower, her mind was already ablaze with thoughts of what could be done next.

_I can't tell the others_; Amy had her eyes closed as her fingers massaged some sweet-scented oil into her spines – for some reason she didn't want to drag them into this. It appeared that she, and she alone, had been singled out for this and that made it her responsibility to rescue whoever needed help. However, that was all well and good, but there were still several problems she had to overcome to fulfil her duty. The first was a lack of transport – knowing where to go was useless if you couldn't physically get there and Amy wasn't even sure how far it was to get to that particular mine shaft. Hitchhiking had occurred to her but, after a long internal struggle, she'd turned that option down; she wasn't sure what could have been waiting for her on the open road and, though she was sure she could handle herself in most situations, she didn't want to take the risk. The fact that this place was fairly remote as well made it unlikely she'd be able to get there this side of New Year, so that idea had to go on the back burner. She also didn't want to go there alone just in case something happened to her while she was down there; normally Amy would have taken her phone and been alright but, she smiled, she didn't reckon mobile companies but receiver units God-alone knows how far deep into the earth, so she doubted she'd get a signal. _I need someone to stay on the surface and pick me…_; she had to pause in that thought as her phone rang.

Swiftly terminating the stream of hot water and wrapping herself in a towel, Amy padded across her apartment in bare feet and picked the phone up, speaking urgently into the receiver,

"Hello?" She smiled as her curiosity over who had rung was dissipated; only one voice she knew was that cheerful and eternally upbeat.

"Hey Rosie", the pink hedgehog heard one of Cream's chao chirp in the background as the rabbit continued, "are you feeling better today?" _I never even noticed that_; Amy shook herself slightly as she answered awestruck,

"Um, yes, yes I'm feeling a lot better; I'm just a bit tired, that's all. Just my luck to come down with a 24-hour bug at Twinkle Park". On the other end, Cream commiserated with her sister before brightening,

"Yeah, that's really rotten luck, but I'll send you the pictures when they're printed, and Big's sketch as well", the rabbit remembered what had been said the previous night, "and I'm sorry I never noticed". Amy's voice filtered back through, a little curious as to what the rabbit was talking about,

"What do you mean Bun?"

"Don't call me that, please?"

"Aw, it's such a sweet name, but okay", the hedgehog relented before restating her question, "but what didn't you notice?"

"Your new jewellery; Ms Rouge said Sonic had given it to you for Christmas". _Oh did she now_; the plastic cover of the phone creaked ominously as Amy tried, and nearly succeeded, in bunching up her fist, _well Ms Rouge and I are going to have some serious words next time we meet_.

"Yes, Sonic gave me a new ear stud; I'll show it to you next time I'm round", she broke off at the sound of giggling "what's so funny?"

"Tails said something as well…" That ominous creaking continued and, if anything, became ever more worrying,

"I can guess what Tails said; you tell him from me that next time I see him, I'm going to kick his twin tails from one side of Station Square to the other and when I get there, I'll turn around and kick them all the way back". _That's if Sonic doesn't beat me to it_; Amy felt herself flush a little as she recalled that particular moment in exquisite detail – she was so caught up in the memory she only caught the tail end of Cream's next line,

"…really do it would you Ames?"

"What? No, of course not", she chuckled as Cream breathed a sigh of relief for Tails' sake, "you should know I'm too soft to try anything that nasty".

"You sounded like you would, but anyway, I'm glad you're feeling better; remember to call Sonic and the others and tell them the good news".

"I will, now I need to get back to my shower before I turn into a popsicle".

"Oh sorry Ames, you should have said. Ta from me and Cheese and Chocola". There was a click as the receiver on the other end was put down and Amy gave a shiver; she slammed the phone down and raced back into the comforting warmth of the bathroom and the steamy interior of the shower.

_Ahh, Heaven_; as the hot water washed over her and displaced the chill from her skin, Amy squirmed a little in delight, relishing the new realisation that compared to yesterday evening she was feeling full of beans. Quickly rinsing the last of the suds out of her spines, the young hedgehog vigorously towelled herself off and raced into her bedroom for a new dress, feeling fully Mobian for the first time since yesterday. As she dressed herself, she re-ran the conversation with Cream through her head again and again; something was nibbling at her thoughts, almost as if she'd said something that should have been important but couldn't remember exactly what. She replayed the conversation again, frowning as she couldn't really see what she might have missed; _you should have said; ta from me and Cheese and Choco…_

Her smile grew and blossomed into a laugh as she realised she could have looked from now until Doomsday and she wouldn't have seen it, simply because there was nothing to see. It was a sound-a-like that had triggered her memory – as she decided the best thing she could have for breakfast was a really unhealthy but tasty fry up, the full implications of that discovery began to sink in. This was perfect; discreet and mobile, they'd be able to help her and she was sure she'd be able to come up with whatever price they demanded. All she had to do now was find their phone number and she'd be off to a flyer.

The sudden trilling of the phone echoed through the part-time office, part-time home that passed as a place of business in this part of town. Normally, the crocodile managing the chipped and splintered oak desk would have snatched it up and be trying to pump the caller for details of their case and more importantly, the size of the pay-check he and his associates could expect at the end of it. However, these circumstances were far for normal in his eyes; the ramshackle heating of this shack had finally given up the ghost and it was so damn cold; Vector almost swore his breath wasn't just visible as mist, it was falling to the floor as snow. Answering the phone would have meant talking his hand out of the nice, deep, warm pockets of the overcoat he was now wearing to preserve heat and exposing it to the cold harshness of the outside air. As the phone continued, the Mobian crocodile grudgingly conceded that, considering business had been poor recently, there was no way he could risk losing a sale; slowly extending his hand and trying to stop his teeth chattering, Vector picked up the telephone and spoke through it raspily,

"Hello?"

"Hello, is that the Chaotix Detective Agency?" _Funny_; Espio had always said Vector wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, and the cold weather wasn't helping his sluggish metabolism, but he almost thought the voice on the other end sounded familiar. That didn't stop him sounding out the traditional greeting however,

"Yes, that we are; the greatest finders of things lost that ever were. How may we help you and what is your name". Some distance away, Amy Rose rolled her eyes; this was the right number all right.

"You should know who I am Vector", _huh, I knew she sounded familiar_; before he could match name to voice she had done it for him, "it's me you dummy; Amy Rose?"

"Amy?" The croc furrowed his brow for a second, brain beginning to crank up the gears as he expended body heat, "oh, Sonic's dame?"

"In a manner of speaking"; Amy stifled giggles as a sudden fear gripped Vector,

"Listen, this isn't about that little incident with the chao is it? I'll swear before any jury that was an accident, and it was".

"No it's not you great lunk", the voice sounded exasperated as she filled in details Vector seemed to have forgotten, "you apologised to Cream and she forgave you, the matter's dead and buried, get it?" He gave a sigh of relief before turning both serious and business-like,

"Glad about that – so, what can we do for you?"

"I, er, I need you to help me with something".

Curiosity gripped the croc as he fished a battered old notepad and the nub of a blunt pencil out of one of the draws of his desk; he set them down and began recoding the important bits of the conversation.

"Right, what sort of job is this? Is it something you've lost, do you need to find someone…" Amy pursed her lips and recited the explanation she had prepared for this; she didn't want to give too much away to the surprisingly perceptive crocodile on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, I lost something, and I know where I lost it, but I need to get it back".

"Okay", Vector nodded, inwardly totting up how much he could reasonably charge for this – at the minute it didn't sound like much, "where abouts is it?"

"I know where Vector, I need you and the Chaotix to come with me to this place and just wait for me to get to it".

"Hardly a detective job is it?" Vector sat back in his chair – he reckoned fifty maximum plus expenses and it barely sounded worth the effort if truth be told, "why don't you get one of your other friends to go with you?"

"They're all busy; now do you want the job or not?" _Well, business is slow, and it'll get us out of this shack for a while_; Vector ummed and ahhed for a few seconds before deciding,

"Okay Amy, we'll take you on; is there somewhere we could meet you to talk about this in more detail?"

"Can you get to the memorial park at about, half-four?"

"Fair enough, I'll send Charmy around to get the details – north entrance okay for you?"

"Sure, don't be late". Despite himself, the croc felt a slow smile creep onto his face as he answered,

"Not for a customer; hear from you in a little while". As the replaced the receiver, Vector frowned a little, wondering what the pink hedgehog could have lost and why it could have been so important to her. He didn't know Amy very well, but she had seemed nice enough when their teams had actually stopped pummelling each other and started talking about who owned the chao; Espio had recovered from his bruises after a couple of days, though he had since developed a rather severe phobia of large, pink hammers. Charmy had teased him for weeks about how the serious, well trained ninja had gotten his butt kicked by a girl; even now, Vector couldn't help but laugh at the memory of the face Espio had pulled when the bee had jumped out from behind a closed door wielding a painted inflatable mallet. _Almost as funny as Esp's revenge; toothpaste on the eyelids as Charmy was asleep_; the croc chuckled as, in his memories, the bee rushed past first thing in the morning with foam and tears pouring out of his eyes, screaming that he'd gone blind as the chameleon had cracked up in the background. Still, this was business now, and in the world of business, punctuality paid; rising to his full and not unimposing height, the crocodile used the communication facilities of their office to the full.

"CHARMY!"

Not two minutes after the croc had called, the door to the office swung open and the bee himself emerged into the office. He was sucking some kind of drink through a straw as he spoke first,

"You bellowed?" Vector half-stood to allow himself to see more of his team mate, wrinkling his nose as he caught a whiff of whatever Charmy was drinking.

"How do you drink that stuff?" That was a mistake; Charmy was a fairly smart kid, but the bee couldn't have identified a rhetorical question if one sat up and bit him.

"Well, I pour the drink in a glass, add a straw and…" Vector slapped a paw to his face and slowly counted to five, trying to persuade himself that the sudden urge to act out the fantasy involving Charmy and half a mile of flypaper really was just a bad idea brought about by the cold weather; it was a hard tussle but he eventually succeeded.

"What I meant was", he spoke slowly and in a very calm voice that Charmy recognised as implying 'your future health is dependent on you staying quiet and nodding in the right places', "how can you drink something that smells that appalling?"

"I need the energy, especially in this weather". That much was certainly true; as an insect Charmy had a seriously high metabolic rate and needed to consume a large amount of sugar every day just to avoid running out of fuel. In the cold, he had to take on even more calories to keep himself warm; Espio had joked once that if they could have hooked Charmy's pulse to a synthesiser, they'd be able to record a techno-beat dance sensation.

"Anyway", the bee opened his wings and flew up onto the desk, sitting on the wooden bench as the crocodile wondered if this was the best thing to do, "what did you want?"

"Hmm, oh yeah; we've got a case".

"Really", Charmy did his customary summersault in celebration of this fact, "we've got a job on and", his eyes went wide and pleading as a sudden thrill ran through his body, "you, you need me for work?" Vector smiled as the bee wrung his hands; Charmy wasn't his first choice for interviewing clients, but in this case he could make an exception.

"Yep, I need you to interview the client; calm down", he demanded as the bee started zipping all over the office in excitement, "you'll give me a headache. Now, I need you to go to the north entrance of the memorial park and be there at four o'clock, no sorry, half-past. You remember all the important questions?"

"You bet – we need to know all the details about what's been lost, where it was last seen and anything we can about the client", a sudden shudder ran through the bee, "who is he anyway?" _Here's the difficult bit_; Vector wasn't sure how the bee would react to this,

"It's a she, and it's someone we know; the name Amy Rose ring a bell?"

"Amy, the pink hedgehog?" Charmy chuckled as he remembered the circumstances they'd met under, "yeah, she gave some of my fondest memories". Vector raised an eyebrow and questioningly,

"Remember Esp's face when I jumped him with the mallet?"

"How could I forget – how is he anyway?" Charmy's face fell a little as he remembered the chameleon teen upstairs, shivering under his blanket as the cold weather afflicted him worse than Vector; the croc at least had thick skin to help insulate against the cold, Esp didn't even have that.

"He's currently rolled in his mattress with three layers on, a dozen hot water bottles and", _thanks Vec, I'd nearly forgotten_; the bee reached into his knapsack and brought out something held in one hand, offering it to his larger team mate, "one of these as well". Vector felt something small drop into his hand and examined it questioningly – to him it looked like a funny-looking cigarette lighter,

"Er, thanks; what is it?" The bee smiled,

"Press the little button on the bottom". With a small ticking noise, Vector did so; he then gasped as the metal rod began to pulse with a warming heat, insulating the cold scales of the reptile's hand.

"Charmy", Vector spoke after a second of enjoying the source of heat, "you are a miracle worker".

"I know"; _that's why I like the guy, but, oh no_; Vector sighed as something unpleasant occurred to him – he didn't want to know, but he had to ask,

"Charm, how'd you buy these, and I want the truth?" The bee put on a pained face but Vector was resolute; eventually, looking at the window to the side of him, the bee mumbled something unintelligible,

"Speak up Charmy; I'm not going to get angry, I'm just curious". Face reddening, the younger Mobian spoke a little louder,

"Pawn shop, but don't worry, I hardly ever used my radio anyway, so it's not such a big deal is it?" Vector sighed, face softening as he couldn't decide whether to be upset or grateful of the bee's sacrifice.

"Charmy, you shouldn't, well, I can't say I'm not grateful and that'll go double for Esp, but, just, let me know next time okay", he offered his, recently warmed, hand, "we're a team remember – we work together, we play together, we make sacrifices together".

"We're the Chaotix", Charmy smiled as he finished their motto and shook with his older friend, "I'll get going now; if I fly I can make it with time to spare".

"Go for it kid", Vector put his hand on the bee's shoulder, "remember Charm, things are a bit grim at the minute, but they'll pick up soon enough".

"I know, now I better hurry". Charmy excused himself and left the office; Vector heard the front door slam as the bee exited the house and sat back down again, the metal hand warmer resting on the desk. _Damn it Charm_; Vector smiled as all his monetary concerns flew out the window, melted away by the simple gift the bee had given him, _I can't ever stay angry with you – you've got too big a heart._

Amy was well wrapped up for this meeting to prevent a second outbreak of the bug she'd had; she had a heavy coat and a scarf on as she stood by the entrance to Shadow's favourite walking place. She was trying to recall what all the members of the Chaotix looked like; she knew Vector was the crocodile, but who was Charm-something; she couldn't even remember his name fully. _Just as long as it wasn't that purple lizard-guy; he was really sarcastic to Big_; Amy ran her memories through her head again, shivering as she tried to recall at what point this had looked like a good idea – she didn't know any of these Mobians well and she was entrusting them to go with her on a journey she couldn't predict the end of. Maybe she should just call it off, but then if she did she'd have to find some way to get to Eggman's old base; like it or lump it, this looked like the only option she had.

"Hey"; the pink hedgehog alighted her train of thought as her name was called out, "is that you Amy?" She glanced around, looking for the source of the shout and getting a little confused as she couldn't see anyone who could have shouted; _great, now I'm hearing things as well as dreaming them…_

"Up here". This time Amy did manage to catch the source of the call; she even managed a little sideways shimmy to give the descending Mobian a clearer landing. She watched as he landed with his back to her, pulling his gossamer thin wings in behind his back and stretching out his yellow and black striped abdomen. _Oh, that's right_; Amy suddenly remembered as the caller turned to look up at her, _he's a bee_.

"Is, er, is that you, umm, Charmer?" The bee raised an eyebrow before putting on an exaggeratedly seductive expression,

"For you baby", he slowly ran a hand over his antennae, "I could be"; as Amy giggled at his false suaveness so did he – a good first impression could be the difference between getting a contract and getting turned down. Charmy had always been able to make people laugh, so he usually used humour as his medium; if anyone was interested he could do a mean impression of Tom Jones.

"The name's Charmy, but you can call me Charmer if you want". He extended a hand which Amy shook as she replied,

"I think it might suit you, but anyway, I'm sure you're busy so I'll try and keep this short".

"Just a sec", Charmy reached into his knapsack to gather out his notebook and pen, "let me find a clear sheet and we'll be away", he hastily leafed through the pages that were covered with doodles and games of noughts and crosses, "ah here we go. Right, your name please?"

"You already know my name". The bee looked up apologetically at the hedgehog's confusion.

"Sorry but I've gotta do this; makes it official and all that – your name please?" Amy bit back a sigh,

"Amy Rose".

"Occupation?"

"Store assistant".

"Legal status?" The rose hedgehog looked down curious as Charmy hid a smile behind his notepad,

"What kind of question is that?" The bee acted confused and scratched one side of his face with the end of his pen,

"Not sure, but Vector always said if you're chatting to a girl, that's one of the first things you should find out…" Amy wasn't sure whether to smile or shudder as she gently but firmly pointed the bee in the right direction,

"I'm fairly sure that doesn't apply here Charmy". He looked up grinning,

"Funny thing that, I thought so too". The hedgehog smiled; she was getting to like the small bee stood in front of her – he had a sense of humour and sounded like a nice guy. It was then she noticed he was only wearing a thin scarf and appeared to be shivering in the frosty air.

"Are you alright? You look a little cold". He put a smile on his face, stopping his teeth chattering by the simple but eye-watering method of inserting his tongue between his molars.

"Nah, it's just the winter; none of us like it, especially Vec and Esp, what with them being cold-blooded and all, it's really not a pleasant time of the year". _He really is a little cold, hmm I wonder_;

"Walk with me for a bit Charm – don't mind if I call you that do you?"

"Nah, sounds fine to me". The bee kept pace with Amy as she began to walk into the park, unconsciously warming up as this action generated heat from his working muscles.

As the pair walked, the conversation kept up; unlike his friends, who tended to stick purely to business when they had a client with them, Charmy was quite content to wander off the beaten track for a little while. He liked talking to people, but Vector was well aware that this overly friendly nature could put some of the more discreet clientele off; as a result, Charmy didn't often get to interview people as he was now.

"So how are things with Big and the little rabbit you had with you; sorry, I can't remember her name for the life of me". Amy looked at the bee mock-sternly as she answered,

"Have a care there; that's my little sister you're talking about. She's called Cream and I saw here and Big yesterday in fact. We went to Twinkle Park for Christmas and…"

"You went to the Boxing Day Bash?" Charmy was looking at her with goggled eyes, "what was it like, I'd have killed to get into that".

"It was alright, but lucky me had to catch some kind of bug and leave half way through", the pink hedgehog was trying not to make the bee think he'd missed much, "what did you three do for Christmas". Charmy gave a nervous smile; _we had a nicely done turkey with gravy and all the debts were paid off, that's about it_.

"It was pretty quiet", he gave a casual shrug, "didn't do much, just had a quiet day in". Amy glanced sideways; from the look on his face she could have hazarded a guess that the bee wasn't being entirely truthful.

"So how's business", she said, trying to change the subject and unwittingly making the situation worse; Charmy grimaced as he remembered their recent slump in fortunes; two months without a decent case was eating into their finances like a cancer, but even so, this wasn't as bad as it could have been.

"Not so good, we're in a bit of a slow patch at the minute", the bee smiled as he remembered one of Espio's favourite sayings, "the wolf's at the door so often we've started to call him Rover".

"That bad?"

"Nah, not really, it's been worse", he shook himself, "which is why I'm supposed to be here, keeping the wolves at bay", he took out his pad and pen again, "now, what is this job you've got planned about?"

"Well", Amy took a last check of her reasoning and launched into her short story, "I was in a mine system not so long ago and I lost something down there; I only just realised it was still down there. Everyone else is busy at the minute, so I found your number and gave you a call". Charmy scribbled all the notes down and, after examining what he'd written, picked out the questions he needed answering,

"Right, what was lost?"

"I'd rather keep that private, if that's all right – look I don't need you to actually look for this thing, all I need you to do is wait for me on the surface…"

"You're going underground", the bee increased his writing, "right, better make a note of that, sorry carry on" he spoke as he recorded that detail and Amy could continue,

"…and just get me there", a sudden suspicion cropped up in the hedgehog's mind, "you do have transport right?" _Heh, heh, yeah_; Charmy subconsciously rubbed the back of his neck as he answered,

"Sometimes; we got a car but it's a touch unreliable; don't worry though", he was quick to reassure the customer, "it'll get you from A to B no fuss".

"Okay, that's good; so, do you reckon that's enough for you?"

"Just a sec, let me check", the bee examined his notes thoroughly; he couldn't think of anything obviously he'd missed, "no, I think that should do it. I'll fly this back to the V-man and he'll be in touch", _aha, contact details_, "do you have a number we can contact you by?" Amy swiftly gave her mobile number which was duly recorded by the diligent bee.

"Okay, got it all; like I said, we'll be in touch. Take care Ames and", he leaned forwards conspiringly, "do you still have that hammer thing you used earlier?"

"Umm, yes", the pink hedgehog looked down confused, "why?"

"Just curious; can I see it, please?" As Amy slowly produced her weapon Charmy gave a happy sigh,

"Thanks, that thing gave me some of my happiest memories", he answered her question before she could ask it, "don't ask, in-house joke". _I'll take your word for it_; Amy replaced her weapon before nodding,

"Right, when can I expect to hear from you?"

"Sometime this evening, that cool?"

"Sure, thanks a lot", she offered her hand again and the bee shook before leaving, "you've been a big help Charmy". The bee nodded in mute agreement as he spread his wings; as he took to the air he smiled shyly; though Vector and Espio often joked about it, he'd never been completely at ease around girls; at the same time they fascinated and confused him. The crocodile had said it was something he'd understand as he got a little older but for now he didn't have much of a clue.

It was dark by the time Charmy used his battered old key to unlock the front door to his shared home, calling out the time honoured greeting as he slipped it shut behind him.

"Hey guys, I'm back". There was a desultory response from the kitchen and, as he slid off his knapsack, the bee wandered in and sniggered at the sight in front of him. Espio was sat on one of the chairs, swathed in a blanket and from the looks of things he had a coat on under that as well, while Vector was cooking something on the rusty stove. The chameleon looked around as Charmy walked in, almost daring him to say something about this necessary insulation against the cold.

"Go okay Charm?"

"Fine, went like a dream; got everything you need to know".

"That's a first", Espio mumbled bad-temperedly, sniffing another lungful of the freezing air as Vector shot him a reproachful glare before asking,

"Okay, let's test that theory – did you get the place?"

"Amy said she'd go with us".

"Good, what are we looking for?"

"We're not", as the other two Mobians glanced over the bee explained, "she just wants us to get her somewhere, oh it's underground by the way, down a mine or something, and she'll find what she lost. She didn't say what it was, said that was private".

"Not really a job for a detective is it?" Espio sat back in his chair, unknowingly miming Vector's speech from earlier as he thought about what materials they might need for the mission.

"Can't deny we could use the cash though; when does she want to move out?" Charmy slapped his face; _knew I forgot something_,

"Sorry Vec, didn't get that one, but I said you'd call her later".

"Fair enough, good job Charm".

"Yeah don't worry buzz boy, we all make mistakes; I made one once", the bee looked over at Espio, scarcely believing that the chameleon was admitting he had a flaw.

"Really, when was that?" Even a master of disguising his emotion couldn't stop himself smiling as he answered dryly,

"The day you flew in front of the car and I hit the brake". _Typical Esp_; Charmy rolled his eyes at his friend's desert-dry comment – though he came across as acerbic and sarcastic, Espio did have quite a refined sense of humour, it was just as biting as a pack of starving sharks and took a bit of getting used to.

"So speaks the great Karate Kid; tell me your next pearl of wisdom oh mighty sensei". The older Mobian smiled as he assumed his 'wise' look,

"The wise man sayeth, search the heart of ice for the drink of the gods".

"He means check the fridge", Vector called over as he ladled the bean stew he'd made into three separate bowls, remembering to go easy on the onions for his bee friend, "we got you something to say thanks for the hand warmers".

"Guys", Charmy squirmed a little; that had just been a necessity – he could see his two reptile friends were suffering and had to do something to help them, he didn't expect thanks for that, "you shouldn't have…"

"I know, but tall, green and gruesome over there twisted my arm" Espio admitted as Vector made a gagging noise.

"And I should let you have some of this why exactly?"

"I brought the ingredients". _Damn, knew there was a reason; crafty ninjitsu master_; the croc deposited the bowls on the table just as Charmy's shout of delight echoed through the room; the bee had discovered his gift and, judging by the way he was now orbiting the light overhead like some kind of deranged asteroid, he seemed pretty pleased about it.

"Yahoo, I got a frappacino, and it's strawberry; I love you both". Vector smiled as he skilfully grabbed the bee by one of his legs and pulled him back to earth,

"Grovel later, eat now".

"Fine by me".

Amy was relaxing by reading a book on top of her bed when her pocket vibrated, shattering the illusion of the young maiden waiting on a stone fence for her lover to meet up with her, unaware that he had been detained by her uncle and her father was on his way with belt in hand. The hedgehog shook off the absorbing nature of the book and answered on the fifth ring, recognising the deep voice on the other end and saying so.

"Hey Vector".

"Ah, hi Amy; just got the info from Charm – he didn't bug you too much did he?"

"Nah, he was really nice about the whole thing", she recalled some of their conversation and chuckled slightly, "and what's with you wanting to know my legal status?" It's not actually possible for a reptile to blush but Vector came pretty close to it as the pink hedgehog laughed down the line; _Charmy Bee, your blind date for this evening is a can of insecticide_.

"Umm, just a private joke; I never thought he'd take it literally".

"So I guessed", Amy shook her head as the crocodile's embarrassed silence before turning more serious, "now, how much is this going to come to?"

"I reckon about forty plus expenses, including petrol". Amy totted up how much of her Christmas pay she had left before realising she could afford that fee quite comfortably.

"Cool, when can you get ready to go, tomorrow?" _I don't know how much longer this thing's got – the sooner the better_.

"Day after", the reply came through, swiftly followed by the explanation, "we'll need to pick up a few things; Charm mentioned we'd be going underground, that true?"

"I'll be going underground, you three will be waiting on the surface in case I need any help".

"Right", _why doesn't she want us down there; she's searching for something private_; Vector kept that information squirreled away as he confirmed the case, "we'll see you on the 29th; same place you met Charmy. That okay with you?"

"Fine, I'll have the route plotted fine by then and I'll let the others know I'm gone. Be there for ten o'clock, it's a bit of a drive. See you then".

"Chow". Vector replaced the phone and exhaled slowly; for the first time in too long, he and his buddies had a case on the go. Time to celebrate, but first…

"Oh Charmy", the croc said in a sing-song voice, stalking through the house as the bee heard and did his best to hide; he knew that tone from Vector meant trouble, "come out and say hello to Mr Choke-hold".

"What'd Stripy do this time?" Espio appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, sipping his cup of green tea with one hand while the other held his blanket around his shoulders like a loose shawl.

"He asked Amy's legal status and blamed it on me". Espio nearly spluttered into his tea; only his formidable training in concealing his expressions prevented him laughing out loud; _that was a good one Charm – never thought of that_; still, Espio knew he had a reputation of unfairness to maintain and, with a sly smile, did so,

"Right, well in that case, you should seek where the smelly socks gather".

"Esp you cheat"; Charmy exploded out of the washing up basket and rocketed up to the roof, flying high to try and stay out of reach of the tall crocodile as Vector jumped after him, "you said you…"

"Fingers crossed" the chameleon assured him as Vector caught the bee on a high jump; Charmy eeped in terror as he suddenly remembered just how many teeth a crocodile has in its mouth and realised he had a ring side seat to all of them.

"Right", Vector said slowly, holding the wriggling insect as he tried to decide the most fitting punishment, "what should I do with you?" Charmy gave a cheerful smile,

"You could let me go?"

"I could", the unofficial leader of the Chaotix agreed before smiling viciously, "I'm not going to but I could – that's a theoretical possibility".

"Oh come on, I did a good job; I was just getting to know the client, there was nothing malicious in it". That much was certainly true; both his team mates would have been the first to accept that Charmy didn't have a malicious bone in his body; the fact that as an insect he didn't have bones could be overlooked in this case.

"Hmm, decisions, decisions", Vector held his grin in check as he realised just how much this stalling was freaking the bee out, "what d'ya reckon Esp?" _Uh oh, now I'm for it_; Charmy saw the chameleon slowly stand up, letting his blanket fall to the floor as he flexed his fingers and intoned.

"Pressure point testing".

"No way!" Charmy made a concerted writhe for freedom as, unseen by him, Vector nodded and gave a tiny glance to the target he wanted the chameleon to hit, "I don't deserve it, lemme go!" The ninja approached, carefully stretching the fingers of his favoured right hand,

"Does anyone truly deserve anything Charmy?" _Gotcha!_ As the bee looked at this confused at the question, his friend pounced and, using one hand, pressed firmly either side of the bee's knee, capturing the pressure points expertly. Charmy simply gasped as sensations ranging from unbearable ticklishness to indescribable pain, and everything in between, flooded up to his brain; he'd been hit like this before but he could never prepare for it, the mixture was different every time.

"Gahhhh, Esp, leggoooo!" He threw himself around in the crocodile's iron grip, trying to kick his leg free and avoid howling like a madman. One out of two wasn't bad; with a shuffle backwards, Espio released the pressure and the bee slumped, worn out by the effort of trying to sort out everything he'd felt in the matter of seconds he'd been held.

"Okay, better stop before the neighbours think they're living next to a pack of serial killers" Vector said, supporting the woozy bee as he set him on the ground. When he finally remembered what had happened, Charmy glared up at Espio murderously.

"Espio, I respect you as a friend and an ally, but I swear you are going to wish you had never done that".

"Good, it worked then", the chameleon shrugged as the other two members of team Chaotix regarded him askew, "you've forgotten what day it is haven't you?" Vector was the first to remember after a glance at the calendar.

"He's right as well Charm; Wednesday, and you know what that means".

"Oh yes", a manic gleam stole into the insect's eyes as the implications of what was going to happen next sank in, "prepare to wish you'd never done that Espio Chameleon".

"Good, I need you to go all out", the ninja led the way to the cramped cupboard that passed as their living room; it was just about long enough for Vector to lay down in, if he'd ever had any desire to acquaint himself with the unmentionable contents of the ragged carpet. Espio sat on the stained settee and extended his hand, voice becoming completely toneless as he mentally worked himself up into a state of resistance.

"Start at the hand and work up". Charmy nodded and took the chameleon's paw, remembering where he had to press to cause maximum pain and stopping the instant Espio tapped with his free hand. Vector watched from the doorway; though it appeared this was just some sort of masochistic ritual Espio was putting himself through, it was actually an integral part of his ninja training. By having Charmy hit pressure points that caused extreme discomfort he was building his resistance to pain; it was a mark of his dedication that the bee now had to use two thumbs, one on top of the other, to force him to tap out. Vector had tried one of those points once and, even though he knew he had thick skin, had tapped out at even moderate pressure from the bee. _Nice one Esp_; the croc mentally complimented his friend, _psyche Charmy up by tormenting him, then get him to go for it – he's less likely to go gentle_. That line of thinking was just so typical of Espio; it was an elliptical train of thought, but, as it always did, it got the result he wanted. The ritual ended, as it always did, two hours after it started, with the chameleon thanking Charmy profusely before disappearing for a cold shower. Not too long after that, all three friends decided to call it a night, saying they'd work out exactly what they needed in the morning.

The recipient's mind slowly became more accessible; the being quickly accessed all it could, and saw within the kaleidoscope of fractured images only a single, all-important factor – freedom for itself.

The next day had passed very swiftly; for one side of the expedition it had been a fifteen minute trip to the hardware store, for the other it had been a slightly longer day plotting the quickest route to their destination. Amy had eventually managed this, but even she wasn't completely sure how she'd recognise precisely which hole it was she had to go down; she just trusted to fate that she'd be able to identify it when she saw it. The night had followed peacefully as well; Amy had slept fitfully and was perfectly sure she was completely over her slight cold, or whatever it had been. The first order of the day was to let everyone know she wouldn't be available today or tomorrow; that was easier for some than it would be for others. Tails had been the most curious, but that was just his nature; a promise that she'd tell him all about it tomorrow pretty much solved that problem, as by the time she saw him next the fox would probably have forgotten exactly what she'd said underneath a mound of his other projects. Cream had wished her good luck and Sonic (Shadow had been in the shower trying to scrub a large set of Akita paw-prints off his chest fur) had just wanted to check she was feeling a lot better before saying the same. As the clock rolled around to nearly half-nine the hedgehog picked up her bag, checked her torch was still working and then finally locked her apartment up and left, heading towards the red light she'd been running to in her dreams for as long as she could recall.

_Come on you three_; Amy rubbed her hands as she waited by the park gate; though it wasn't technically as cold as it had been for the past couple of days, the wind chill factor was lowering the temperature dramatically. It was the wrong kind of wind as well; rather than the gentle breezes that seemed to roll over you, this howling gust cut through you like a handful of razorblades. Small nests of it were currently whipping around the hedgehog's spines and freezing her skin bare; she shook her head and checked her watch again, it was three minutes to ten – she was early, but had always believed that five minutes early was better than five minutes late. _Except on a day like this_, she thought acidly, _I wonder if I can start deducting them cash if they're more than…wait a second_; something that sounded suspiciously like a firework went off to the left of her. Amy remembered what Charmy had said about the car the Chaotix Detective Agency owned and shuddered; steeling herself as she heard Vector call her name she slowly turned towards the left and felt her heart drop into her shoes.

It might have been a car at some stage; some stage fifty years ago. The pink hedgehog was half-expecting the clunking jalopy to fall apart as the crocodile smoothly pulled up alongside her and hailed,

"Hey Ms Rose, ready to go?" She didn't answer immediately; she was still looking for the strand of cello-tape that must surely have been holding the whole thing together. She hadn't seen so many wrinkles and slight bumps on anything that wasn't an elephant and she'd seen a better paint job in the aftermath of an explosion in an emulsion factory. She blinked, blinked again and then finally just began to believe that this would be the vehicle that would take her to wherever this thing was calling from and then back again. _Well, if worst comes to worst we'll have enough spare parts to build some kind of rickshaw or…_

"Hey, Ames, you coming?" She came, unwillingly, back to reality as she caught sight of Charmy waving at her from one of the back seats.

"Er, sorry, I was, um, lost in thought". To her surprise, Vector simply chuckled and replied,

"Don't sweat it, we get that all the time. Don't worry, this car's as reliable as they come, hasn't let us down yet". He gently patted the steering wheel and Amy winced as she saw the ripple pass through the entire body of the battered old hulk. She gingerly reached for the door facing her, opening it gently as she tried not to imagine suddenly pulling it clean off the car and sending it clanging to the pavement. The interior was hardly much better, the upholstery was cracked and the headrest seemed to hang at an awkward angle, but at least it smelt nice and appeared clean. As she seated herself in the leather seat, Vector turned to face her and gave a toothy smile.

"Welcome aboard Amy; I understand you're to be our navigator for the day", she nodded and timidly pro-offered the hand-drawn map she held; though he couldn't help it and tried to be as open and friendly as possible, Vector was pretty intimidating up close and personal, "good, good; now you've met Charmy, just re-introduce you to the rag man in the back there – say hi Esp". Amy looked back and returned Charmy's winning smile; it was then she remembered exactly who Espio was – the purple guy who'd been sarcastic to Big. A golden horn protruded from a mass of blankets that covered most of the back seat and a pair of steely eyes regarded her coldly.

"Good morning".

"Hi", she replied, instinctively disliking Espio as much as she had instinctively liked Charmy; _I know you're type sunshine_; she decided to give his ego a little poke, "no hard feelings I hope?"

"None at all". The chameleon's face remained passive but deep in his eyes she could see a faint shudder run through him as he remembered what had happened last time they'd crossed paths and, for him at least, it hadn't been pretty. Noting the air in the car tangibly drop in temperature, Vector cleared his throat and made to press on.

"Got the map Amy – you said it would be a bit of a drive".

"Yes, that's right", all thoughts of the obstinate chameleon were forgotten as she realised this was it; she was standing on the threshold of finding that which she felt, no, she knew, she had to find. Rapidly reading out her instructions, the pink hedgehog guided the Chaotix out of Station Square.

"I remember you"; Amy looked around at the cashier of the service station they'd pulled in to refuel.

"Oh, hi there, I didn't recognise you at first", Amy casually brought down a packet of mints from the stand nearby, "how have you been doing?"

"Not so bad", the teenager quickly tabulated the bill as he recalled the last time he'd seen this particular Mobian; she'd been with some others then, "where are your friends this time? There was a black hedgehog and, umm, that red guy with the funky dreads – never got his name".

"They're all okay, but I'm here with a second group this time; they're all waiting in the car this time".

"You footing the bill". _You don't know how right you are_.

"Isn't it always the way?"

"You said it", the cashier slid the change back under the counter, "oh, did you manage to catch up with the burnt guy in the end?"

"Umm, yeah we did", _in more ways than one believe me_, "he's…all right I suppose".

"Oh good, I did wonder. See you". As the shop bell tinkled behind her, Amy suppressed a shudder; that little exchange had unwittingly popped open a nasty can of worms in Amy's mind as it reminded her of where she was headed for and what had happened there last time. Luckily she managed to keep this apprehension quiet as she re-alighted her temporary ride, a little more confident in the reliability of the motor now as it had yet to shatter into metallic dust.

"Ready to go?"

"You bet", she nearly trembled with excitement as she realised just how close she was; it was only when she popped open the bag of mints she'd brought that she noticed something odd,

"Didn't you lot buy anything". _Uh oh, umm, excuses time_. Vector cleared his throat before answering,

"Well, we brought our own food; don't trust any of that packeted stuff, you know?"

"Fair enough"; Amy was perceptive enough to realise that the croc wasn't being entirely truthful here but let it lie to spare his embarrassment. As she sucked on her first sweet, she popped one in her paw and offered it to Vector. Flicking his eyes to the side for a split-second, the taller Mobian let the small comestible roll into one of his larger hands as he whispered his thanks. As he flipped the mint into his jaws, Amy offered her sweets around the back.

"You mean it; cheers". Charmy dug his hand in enthusiastically as his sweet tooth came to the fore; Espio, however, was a slightly different matter.

"No thank you".

"Sure?" It was an innocent comment but, as either of his friends would have told you, you couldn't make that kind of mistake against Espio and expect to get away with it,

"Perfectly; I am well aware of my own mind" the chameleon replied with just enough of a hint of a sneer to make it sound a little down-putting as Amy retracted her arm.

"Fine then"; _sheesh, he's enough to make Knuckles look completely emotional_.

_Man, she's annoying enough to make Charmy seem almost alright_.


	9. Chapter 8 By the Light of her Dreams

Chapter 8 – By the Light of her Dreams.

A/N: This is it folks; what's been troubling Amy is made plain this chapter. Read on and enjoy the tension. Just a quick note though:

HHH – The guy at the cash register – he's the same guy from AODAI (the one who asked Seraph to take his mask off – the 'burnt guy' he mentioned to Amy is none other than the masked Mobian himself). There are some other references to AODAI in this chapter; see if you can spot them all. Here's hoping I got the Chaotix personalities right – let me know if something's amiss… Cheers for the review :-).

It was nearly time, she was nearly there; she could feel it in her bones. As the small mountain range came into view and gradually grew to fill the horizon with a row of dagger-like projections, tension began to flood through Amy's body like an electric charge. Soon, she'd be able to find the reason behind her restless dreams; in a matter of hours, not days or weeks, she'd know the face behind the smoke and illusions. She kept her eyes peeled out of the side window; the pink hedgehog was trying to remember the exact route the Tornado had gone by to get to the entrance of Eggman's base – she knew it was a little way back from the road, but she could swear that the mineshaft hadn't been all that far from here, and it was definitely on her side of the car. _This is it; no stopping or chickening out now, I gotta go through with this and rescue whoever needs help and…wait, that rock looks like, and there's where we speed tested the Tornado!_ Amy snapped to full alert and tapped the croc on the arm,

"Vec, stop here, this is it". The vehicle hadn't even fully juddered to a halt before Amy had thrown her door open and bounded out; even by the waning light of the day she could confirm this was the place. It all fitted perfectly, she reckoned she could still see in the distance the squat silhouette of the truck they'd driven the Guild of Treasure Hunters and the unconscious Dr Eggman back to Station Square in, just next to the flat plain the Tornado had churned up when Tails had invited her to accompany him on a speed test. The fact that this test had been a plot by Knuckles to take everyone but the guild out of the picture while he helped them get over the previous events had come out later after Sonic had annoyed the guardian enough to get him to admit it. Those events, however, were now mere memories, this was real and happening; as the Chaotix departed their car and Vector moved to retrieve the supplies they'd brought with them out the boot, she turned to address them,

"This is the place; follow me". She led them towards the mine shaft, the footsteps in the sand becoming ever plainer before her eyes as she walked closer to her goal.

"This is it?" Espio looked down at the gaping maw with extreme distaste, "you dragged us out here so you could go pot-holing?"

"Well, I was going to pay you for coming, but if you carry on like that I'm not sure I'll bother"; the chameleon's acid tongue was really starting to grate on the hedgehog's nerves, especially as she waited for Vector to join the group as Charmy flew overhead.

"Looks creepy", the bee remarked before glancing down at Amy, "sure you want to do this alone?" She smiled back at him,

"Thanks for the concern, but yeah; this is something I've gotta do solo".

"Just as well I brought this then isn't it?" Vector huffed as he removed one of his hands from his overcoat pocket, revealing an old style but perfectly serviceable radio, its partner still safely secreted in his other pocket, "call in if you get into trouble, oh and this'll let you see down there". Amy took both the radio and the heavy duty flashlight, nodded her thanks and turned to Charmy,

"Hey Charm, mind giving me a lift down…?" It was at this point Espio moved forwards, a distinctively bored expression on his face as he made a startling point.

"How are you going to know where you've been; it's a mine system, you could just wander in circles down there until you dropped dead of thirst or starvation". Amy tried to think of a system on the fly; perhaps she could mark her way with the hammer haft, but then the chameleon shifted his hands under his blanket; _good job someone's thinking ahead isn't it_?

"Here", the reptile said bad-temperedly, almost forcing the cans of spray paint into the hedgehog's hands, "spray this on the walls; if you need help we'll come looking for you; leave a trail for us to follow". Amy snorted, though she couldn't not admit that Espio had come up with a good idea there and had helped her out a bit into the bargain.

"Thanks", she holstered the cans in her dress pockets, the tips sticking out like six-shooter grips as she raised her arms for Charmy to grab onto, "if I'm not back in three days send a search party". Vector smiled and shook his head,

"You better come back; we're relying on you to pay next week's food bill". He waved as Charmy carefully raised both himself and his passenger into the air then, after checking his positioning with a few glib pointers from Espio, slowly lowered them both down into the engulfing void below.

Amy shivered as the waning daylight was gradually shut off by the encompassing girth of the hewn earth walls; she imagined she was being lowered into a pool of shadow like a fishing worm into water. As the darkness deepened, her vision became less and less clear; to compensate her body boosted perception to her other senses. She became aware of the tiny down draughts caused by the rapid beating of Charmy's wings as the bee lowered her slowly to the floor of this service tunnel. The damp, musty scent of earth became clearer and more pronounced to her nose and her hearing sharpened; there was a slight tapping sound caused by water dripping onto solid stone and the tiny trickle of subsidence as tiny pebbles rolled against each other in the endless dance of erosion. However, most of her sensory input was directed against herself and the one who carried her.

"Any", in the dank oppressiveness the bee's voice was magnified a hundred-fold; bouncing of the walls and amplifying itself to epic proportions, "any idea how far down it is?"

"No" she whispered back, peeking down as she did to try and make out anything in the gloom beneath her feet; she smiled weakly as she realised she could barely see even them in this darkness. She tried to remember what Knuckles had said about the distance; he had been the one to attempt this descent at first, he had led the attempt to save Rouge from the indirectly dangerous machinations of the vampire bat Seraph and his vendetta against Eggman. He had said how far down this led; had it been fifty feet, no surely not as deep as that, forty maybe at the max but...Amy couldn't suppress a gasp of shock as her feet suddenly and completely unexpectedly touched solid ground. She jerked to a halt as Charmy, senses strained almost as much as the hedgehog's, ceased his descent in alarm,

"What is it?" Stilling the frenzied pulsing of her startled heart, Amy kept her voice level enough to reply calmly,

"The floor; Charmy this is it. Let me go here and fly back to the other two". The pair hovered for a few seconds more before the bee restarted his motion; Amy felt herself lowered fully to the rough earthen basement of this tunnel and listened as Charmy remained stationary, trying to judge where he was and what could happen next; he didn't like it one bit.

"Ames, I don't think this is a good idea; at least let one of us come with you…"

"No", the younger bee heard a slight rustle; Amy's spines chafing together as she shook her head, "I appreciate the concern Charm, but no; I just, need to go through with this alone". There was a click and both Mobians were dazzled as Amy clicked on the flashlight Vector had given her; the torch was more powerful than either had anticipated and flooded the confined tunnel with pearly light. Taking solace in this, the pink hedgehog reassured her new friend,

"Don't worry Charmy, I'll be fine; I'll leave a trail like Espio said and radio if I need any help", she put her hand on his shoulder and smiled sagely, "trust me on this; it'll all be okay". In the short term, this statement was proved right by the remainder of her journey; however, if Amy had even the slightest inkling of what her actions would result in, she would probably have taken on the Metal Overlord with a broken chair leg than set foot in those cursed mines again.

"Alright, you're the boss, quite literally in fact", Charmy reminded himself as he unfurled his transparent wings once more; as Amy shone the light around the walls to let him see any sharp edges that could have resulted in painful wing tears he set off on the return journey, telling her one last time, "just take care Amy; good luck".

"Thanks" she whispered back, holding the light steady as he gained altitude enough to reach a safe level of light and navigate his own way out the mine hole. When she was sure he was high enough, she breathed steadily, turned the light down the way she had to go and took one of the cans of paint Espio had given her out of her pocket, shaking it until it rattled as it was supposed to. Popping the cap off the top, she gave an experimental squirt onto the wall next to her; the spray was a vivid, stark white and she wrinkled her nose at the bitter, acrid tang. _If all else fails they'll be able to sniff me out, pheww_; with flashlight tracking the way in front of her, paint marking her trail and adrenaline coursing through her nervous bursts, Amy cautiously yet excitedly followed her dreams to their as yet unknown conclusion.

"Drop off okay?"

"Just fine", Charmy assured the others as Espio lent him a hand and pulled him onto the safe ground away from the maw of the drop, "she's down okay and setting off now".

"Damn, you should have dropped her from higher up" the chameleon commented; Vector folded his burly arms,

"Look Esp, she's not a bad person, just 'cause she kicked your butt is no reason not to like her; she even apologised afterwards". The ninja looked up to his larger friend and shook his head, putting up his normal front of uncaring, unfeeling distaste, hiding his true motives as well as his ninjistu training obfuscated his emotions.

"Whatever". Charmy snorted with distaste,

"Sometimes Espio, I swear you're not Mobian". He didn't react and the bee turned away in disgust, missing as he did the tiny flicker of emotion that raced across Espio's eyes; something he'd tried for years with all the weight of his ninja training to eradicate from his mind and his memories danced through his psyche, tormenting his frustrated efforts to crush it utterly. He was still for a second more before sinking to the sand in a meditative pose, refocusing himself and the reasons why he did both dislike and envy Amy Rose into a logical order, replacing chaos with order as he strove to strengthen himself and disprove his weakness.

In the darkness beneath the feet of the Chaotix, Amy swept the heavy beam of the light she held across the uneven floor, taking care of where it was safe to tread and where the ground was more uneven, marking the path she had taken with the paint she had been given. Something suddenly glinted in the light; she swung to catch it in the full beam and examined it closely; as she caught a closer look at the object buried into the wall of the corridor. _Now I know I'm going the right way_; she paused for a second to remember how Shadow had used the scraps of destroyed badniks to leave a trail for them to follow out of Robotnik's base – strange she had forgotten that little detail earlier. Now she remembered, she realised she could simply use these as further markers to show the way; highlighting the metal shard with an extra spray of white paint, the pink hedgehog took a second to admire her handiwork and then pressed on.

It was coming, the recipient mind had returned. The being could feel the desire to locate it travelling towards the prison it occupied. At such range, the being could directly manipulate the sensations the recipient could feel and use them to ensure swift discovery. The prison glowed brighter as the power was used.

Amy stopped stock-still, shuddering as it felt like a pair of icy spiders had run up her back bone. She exhaled sharply as she looked around for the source; she had been tempted to pass it off as an errant gust of wind, but where was the wind in a deserted place such as this? Someone was trying to tell her something and she only needed one guess as to who – there was a piece of the puzzle she had missed. She took another step only to have a second pause; the icy spiders had a family and stampeded between the short spikes on her back. Reassessing the situation, she took a few paces back, swinging her light back as if it where a searchlight, looking for any clue, any sign of where she was meant to go next. She went back, still straining her eyes to see the way when the spiders raced once more, forcing her to stop. _There's nothing, what am I meant to do; could it be below me_; Amy examined the ground at her feet but saw nothing, it was only when she swept both her eyes and her light up that serendipity took pity on her plight. One half of the flashlight's beam stayed on the wall, but the other pierced through it; Amy's face fell as she saw just how well the crack had been concealed by the rough outlay of the wall. If it hadn't been for her unknown patron staying her speed she would never have seen it. Taking a few seconds to mark both sides of the crevasse with her paint, the hedgehog then squeezed her slim body through the tiny hole, not daring to attack it with her mallet in case she caused some kind of cave in and entombed herself in this pit. It was a tight fit even for one as slim as herself and going sideways; she held her breath, wriggled and forced herself through until eventually she popped herself out the other side of the opening, into a narrower, more cramped passage than the one she'd entered from. The ground here was slightly smoother but what was even more important to her was that she was closer to her goal.

So close now, barely a mile away, the recipient mind had increased speed to the prison. The being at the centre of this intricate maze existed as it had always done, but now it existed fully, remembering long dormant functions of the mind and expressing them as it had not down for too long. The chamber pulsed with increased speed at the whim of the mind that governed it.

The paint was still being pressed simply because the finger on the nozzle had received no conscious order to release pressure; Amy had forgotten almost everything except how she should follow this path, follow it until the conclusion was reached; this was what she had seen and been dreaming of for too long. _I must reach the end, I must see what's been doing this to me_; her speed picked up, she sub-consciously noticed the ground under her feet becoming more compact, less broken as she ran onwards, the canister in her hand empty but the nozzle still pressed inwards as all else was forgotten. The need was there, the same consuming desire to run that had driven her mind to propel itself onwards in her prophetic dreams now infused her body. The breath from her lungs came quick and light; lightning dancing in her veins and singing in her pulse as, from far ahead, the faintest tinge of pale red light became visible.

The recipient was here; soon a meeting of minds would take place that would open the doors of freedom and eventual recuperation from this long isolation and imprisonment.

_Light, this is it_; Amy steeled herself as she slowed up, forcing herself to remain calm even as tension crackled in the air like a thundercloud; both her own and, she sensed, someone else's as well. The red phosphoresce was lighting her way and, as she cautiously extended a single arm up to meet it, she realised with a shock that it was nearly the exact same hue as her own fur; the light simply sank into the hairs as if absorbed by them. Arms outstretched, the empty can of spray-paint falling uselessly to the floor, Amy strode into the light, seeming to merge with it as she still followed her path, walking towards the nexus of the subterranean rose dawn. It was then she paused; she recognised this scene far too clearly, far too well, for it to be coincidence; _I never went past this corner, I don't know what lies beyond_ – she licked her lips, this was it. She could turn her back now, retreat up the way she had come and be done with this place, or she could go forwards into an uncertain future, into the audience of an unknown puppeteer who had led her here. Almost as she formed the heathen thought of flight, there was an angry stampede of snow-footed spiders all over her body, causing her to gasp and deciding her mind; there was no way back now, after she'd come so far and done so much. Summoning her hammer and her courage, Amy seized control of her destiny with both hands; she strode around the corner and presented herself to the summoner.

At the heart of the prison, the summoner awaited her, as it had waited for time immemorial.

The light, it blinded in its harshness, it dazzled with its glare; she had to shut her eyes to protect her sight, robbing her of a glimpse of the culmination of her quest. She turned her head away to protect her vulnerable eyes, raising her hand as if to ward of the luminescence.

"Too bright", she compressed her frustration into short, sharp words, "turn it down, can't see". As if in answer to her frustration, the opalescence dimmed, slowly at first but eventually, the light lowered to a point where Amy could open her eyes without risking blindness. Blinking away the clinging afterimages, the pink hedgehog slowly brought her gaze upwards; she meant to scan the chamber in its entirety, but her eyes were drawn, no, they were ensnared, by the monument that was slowly rotating on the central plinth of this burial mound. The Piko Piko Hammer dropped into the dirt as its owner fell to her knees, overawed by the scale of what had called to her; in that instant, every doubt she'd ever entertained was melted away like candle wax, swallowed in the endless reflections of the spinning jewel. A single thought, whether her own or placed in her blanked mind by another, more powerful psyche than her own, echoed throughout her entire being for a single instant before being instantaneously buried behind a screen of shock and awe; _behold, the Bloodstone_.

Standing freely on the central dais, the summoner recorded the reaction of the recipient mind. It was as satisfying as it had ever predicted.

_It's, it's incredible_; Amy brought back enough control to allow her to stand erect on shaking legs, mind still scrambled by the sheer magnificence of the gem in front of her. It was the perfect ruby, blood-red and cut in a classic style, rotating timelessly on its single point, the rest of the jewel freely balanced on this pin head centre of gravity. _So this is it; this is what I came to find_; she shuffled backwards in awe, raising her recovered hammer as the stone seemed to react to her unvoiced thought; the red light that had attracted her like a moth to a candle flame glowed again, gently, from the centre of the ruby itself. As the hedgehog stared wide-eyed, the glow dimmed once more, leaving just enough to illuminate the entire scene and more importantly, its centre piece. Wetting her suddenly dry lips, Amy took a tentative step forwards and spoke in a quavering voice,

"H,hello?" No answer, not even a pulse of light; she tried again,

"Can you hear me?" _Right, I'm talking to a jewel; this is completely absurd_; it was then the response came; light flooded the scene, causing her to blink away from the gem and raise a protective arm once more.

"Ahh; right I get it!" _It responds to thoughts; it's umm, what the word, telepathic – right, I'm dealing with a telepathic ruby_; the pink hedgehog shook herself as it seemed not to react to this line of thought. Before she could think further, there was a change in movement from the glowing form of the ruby.

The recipient mind was hard-pressed to cope with what it saw as defying rationality. The being had long since abandoned the fetters of such linear thought but realised it had made an error in trying to communicate with a creature that did. There was no option now; freedom was close enough to sense.

The pattern of light began to shift; rather than respond to her, the light began a slow, rhythmic pattern of brighten and dim, reminiscent of a giant crystalline heart as Amy watched on entranced. She had been gripped by a fear that she was actually within a colossal creature of some form, about to be engulfed by its mass as it awoke from a torpid slumber. As the heartbeat continued, however, there was no sign of movement from anywhere save the jewel itself. As she focused upon it, the rotating ruby began to spin faster, blurring the reflections the young hedgehog could see within its endless red facets. _What is it doing; should I…huh?_ As she had been enthralled in this intricate dance of light and illusion, Amy had moved and only now realised it; she was at the foot of the steps that led to the jewel. Slowly, timidly, expecting to leap back at any second, the hedgehog crossed the threshold and alighted the roughly hewn stone platforms, bringing her within touching distance of the blood-red precious stone. _You brought me here_; she looked at one of the polished, flawless facets of unbroken rouge intently, _why, what do you need of me?_ Her reflection blinked, it took her a few seconds to compute that this gesture was completely independent of her own movement and she took a backwards step, disbelieving still as the Amy depicted in the mirrored surface smiled beautifully at her.

The reflection cocked its head as if amused; Amy herself was holding her eyes shut and pinching the flesh of her left arm hard, trying to disbelieve what she was seeing and the evidence of her own senses. She held until the pain burned through to her brain in a rushing, molten river, then she re-opened her eyes, inwardly dreading what she would see. _Oh God, what is this_ – the reflection of herself mimed an exaggerated sigh, still smiling as though she was being silly and playing a game. As she watched on, the smile fell from the simulacrum's face, replaced with a pleading expression and Amy felt pity tug on her heartstrings; she reminded herself that this thing, as it had contacted her, had been calling for help. As that thought flashed across her mind, the reflection nodded and smiled once more, this time bringing up a single hand and offering it forwards, seeming to press against he interior of the jewel as it looked at Amy expectantly. _You need me_; the hedgehog retook her lost pace as the imprisoned Amy nodded and seemed to press the glassy side of its prison ever more firmly. Amy looked at her own hand, trying to weigh up what may happen if she did anything but failing utterly; there was no way she could ever predict anything like this ever in her life time. She had to go with her gut feeling; she'd never turned down a call for help in her life and she couldn't now; it just wasn't in her to walk away. Slowly, eyes not meeting those of her own reflection, she extended her own hand, fingertips erect and questing for those that were visible to her. There was a slight rocking of the jewel, movement of the stone brought the pair together and their fingertips met.

Freedom beckoned.

Espio suddenly snapped his eyes open, his relaxed body conveying the ripple that had passed through the ground as though he had been merged with the sand. The chameleon brought himself swiftly to his feet as his agile mind quickly worked out the most likely cause of such a shift in the ground; all he needed was confirmation.

"You two feel that?" _Obviously not in the case of Charmy, but Vec might have_; the crocodile turned towards his smaller friend and squinted; Espio sighed as he realised his skin had done what came naturally and, with a second's thought, reverted to his normal, purple colour. Vector lowered the headphones of his battered old walkman and asked,

"You say something".

"You feel that?" Espio repeated as Charmy landed, looking at the chameleon with a hint of concern in his expression, "it felt like something in the earth shifted".

"No, I didn't feel anything", the crocodile had known Espio too long not to believe him though, "but if you said there was something, there was and…"

"Radio Amy", Charmy broke in urgently; explaining as the others looked over at him, "a shift in the earth, or a shift below it?"

"Oh Hell", Vector realised the bee's suspicions and cold fear flooded him; as he reached for the partner of the radio Amy wore, he mentally cursed himself; he should have insisted at least one of the Chaotix had accompanied her. The other two watched on helpless as the crocodile quickly spoke down the receiver of the machine.

"Amy, Amy come in".

It was still dark, even when she was sure her eyes were open, it was still as black as pitch and she couldn't see anything. But then, sight wasn't important now, nothing was; she was finally and utterly content, at peace with the world and all within it; the tiny object in her left hand was all she needed now. Amy was sure she was lying on her back and should be looking up, except it was too dark. She could have lain like this forever and, in fact, was just raising her arms to support her head when something in the pocket of her dress crackled into life and a rough, uncultured voice intruded onto her restful state of mind.

"Amy, Amy come in". _Vector then_; she lazily removed the radio from her pocket, _what could he want?_ She flipped the dial to send remarkably easily for one who had no vision, and answered carelessly,

"I'm here Vector, what is it?" Up on the surface, the leader of the Chaotix gave a relieved thumbs-up to his team-mates and answered as at least one of them blew a visible sigh of relief,

"Nice one Ames; listen, I think you should head back now; night's on the way and I don't want to have to camp out here". _That's not a problem – I shouldn't keep them waiting_.

"Alright then; I'm on my way back now. I'll contact you when I'm at the base of the shaft".

"Right, hustle it up though; it gets cold fast out here now". There was a click as the radio was shut off and Amy, after reclining for just a second longer, heaved herself into a sitting position and nudging something with one of her legs; she later identified it as her flashlight. She flicked it on, realising as she did that she was at the entrance of the, er, Amy crossed her eyes; what was that way? It was something important, she knew that much, but she hadn't the faintest clue what that tunnel led to, though it didn't seem important. _Oh well, probably doesn't matter;_ _I know I found what I came for_. The pink hedgehog took a couple of slow breaths, rejoicing in her new-found freedom for a second before recalling her promise to her employees and heading for the surface.

Charmy hadn't waited for the radio; he had taken off before either of his friends could stop him and had dropped back to the bottom of the shaft. He had originally planned on following the trail of paint Amy was supposed to have left but he quickly realised that would have been a bad plan; he could barely pick even the white paint out in the oppressive gloom and following it could have resulted in him getting lost down here; not a prospect he relished in the least. _Well, I'm not going back without her; I'm waiting right here_; the bee sat down and crossed his arms, peering into the blackness in front of him as though it were an augury he could see into. He didn't know how long it was, sitting alone in the eternal darkness, before a lone, single sunbeam lanced through the murk of night and reassured his doubts completely.

"Amy", the bee shouted as he stood up, "over here".

"Charmy?" The hedgehog quickened her pace and shone the flashlight forwards, inadvertently shining it right into the insect's eyes and causing him to stagger backwards in the sudden glare.

"Yeah, point that thing someplace else" he demanded, trying to clear the after-images from his retinas by continual blinking as he heard rather than saw his client approach. Amy smiled apprehensively at the youngest member of the Chaotix and tapped her foot.

"Charmy, didn't I tell you to stay up there until I called?"

"Maybe", he admitted before explaining his reasoning, "but Espio said he felt something like a tremor in the soil; I thought it might have been a cave-in or something. I was down here in case the way back was blocked for you. Plus it is getting pretty cold up there and Esp and Vec really don't do cold nights".

"Fair enough, and thanks as well", Amy's apprehensive smile bloomed into one of appreciation and she ruffled his antennae gently, "nice to know one of you lot looks out for me". Charmy fought her hand off as he tried to stop himself laughing.

"Hehey, cut it out; that tickles", he took to the air gently and offered his hands, "you find what you came for?" In the darkness, the bee missed Amy's expression as she relived the sensation of release she now felt,

"Oh yes, I found it". The bee rose into the air with his passenger, upwards towards the disc of fading sunlight that represented freedom from this dark, dank mine system and the secret it contained.

The drive back was easy enough; one quick stop for petrol was the only delay the group as a whole faced. Amy spoke little throughout the trip, even dozing off for short periods of it and awakening fully rested; no more would she be plagued by nightmares or hindered by dreams of running to a destination she was sure she had reached. The Chaotix were similarly quiet; Charmy had fallen asleep almost as soon as the car had started up; Amy guessed the flights into the mine had tired him more than he had let on, Vector was concentrating on driving and the music she could hear pumping gently out of his headphones as he remembered the route back perfectly. Espio, well, she didn't really look at Espio much; she was still ticked off with his attitude and his general demeanour so tried to avoid glancing at him whenever possible; the fact that he was sat directly behind her doubtless aiding this desire. The clock on the dashboard, which Vector had reminded her was still tuned to summer time as neither he nor any mechanic he had ever come across had figured out how to reconfigure it, was blinking the time of 10:45 when they pulled into Station Square.

"Hey Ames", Vector's voice jarred the rose hedgehog out of her most recent rest, "where's your apartment from her; we'll drop you off there". _Hmm, that's nice of them_;

"If you go to where you picked me up and I'll guide you from there; you can just drop me off at the park and I'll walk you know?"

"No way", the crocodile's voice was heavy with authority, though it was low to try and prevent Charmy waking up, "we'll drop you off at home; no telling who's on the streets this late at night".

"Well, if you're sure…"

"We are"; Espio's voice cut in from behind her and effectively ended the conversation – the ninja's tone and voice in general cut through diplomacy like one of his ninja stars sliced through tissue paper. As the park loomed closer, the hedgehog leant forwards and pointed the way; not five minutes later, her apartment block was in sight.

The ancient car sputtered to a halt and Amy slowly opened the passenger door, sliding her legs free and stepping out onto the pavement as Vector watched on. After stretching some feeling into her legs and stamping out the pins and needles jabbing her feet Amy turned to the Chaotix and reached for her purse.

"Right, how much did you want again?" Vector tapped his thick fingers against the steering wheel before seeming to come to a decision and answering,

"With expenses included, call it forty-five and we're square".

"Fair enough", Amy gave a run down of what the extras had been and realised she was getting a decent deal here; the paint alone had probably cost more than five, "here's the cash I owe you; good to work with you". The crocodile pocketed the money in his belt and nodded,

"Likewise; see you sometime Ames and tell your friends about us". That last sentence struck a chord; a sudden fear gripped the hedgehog and she re-opened the door just before Vector could engage first gear,

"Wait, you won't tell anyone about this will you – I'm just so embarrassed I had to go back for this thing" she offered as Vector raised an impromptu eyebrow; _I don't think that's the whole truth here, but we're a business and the last thing we need is a consumer confidence crisis_.

"Don't panic, we're confidential – won't let anyone know about this unless you specifically give us the say-so, cool?"

"Thanks, means a lot; well, I better let you guys go – see you around". She swung the door shut and the car pulled off, still stuttering as it worked up speed to move into the dangerous territory of second gear. Amy waited until it had completed a ponderous three-point turn and returned Vector's slight wave as the Chaotix Detective Agency disappeared around the corner of her street.

_Whew, I beat, but I'm so happy; I did it, I know I did and I'm so glad it's all over_; despite her tiredness, Amy Rose's face was wreathed in a triumphant smile as she slid open her front door and stepped inside, closing it behind her as she let her small bag slide to the floor. She wasn't feeling hungry and she reasoned she'd have a shower first thing; she needed to change her bedding in the morning anyway; she just felt like a decent forty winks. _And this time_; the mischievous section of her mind had a little license to roam as she slid between the sheets of her big, warm bed; _I know it's going to be a decent night's sleep_. The effect was almost instant; Amy's eyelids simply sealed themselves closed and the lullaby of the night's whisper and the gentle warmth of her own body heat combined to pull her under the gossamer blanket of sleep. Soon, the only sounds of the apartment were Amy's gentle snores, just as it had been last night, and the night before, and for all the previous nights she had occupied this apartment as a tenant. This night, however, there was a single difference present that set it apart from every other, single night she had spent within these four walls.

Amy Rose was not alone this night.

Unknown to her thoughts and independent of her own mind and body, the pink hedgehog opened her eyes under the guidance of a second, more powerful and much more ancient psyche; the reflections of a pale gibbous moon were visiblein the eyes in Amy's face that were now no longerher own; something elselooked out upon the world, and saw that all was good.

"_I am free"._

A/N: Okay, from here on in, it starts getting a bit freakier; I may change the rating if the story goes the way I want it to. As you can guess _this_ now means the 'being' is talking/acting in Amy's body (there are elements of possession in this story from now on; if you're not comfortable with this I suggest you read no further – consider thine-selves warned).

Have a pleasant evening – Muahahahahahahaha!


	10. Chapter 9 Running Ripples

Chapter 10 – Running Ripples.

A/N: This could get confusing but bear with me; all will be explained later. Just a few words to one of my favourite reviewers:

KatyRose – Before I write, I always make sure to fix myself up with a large expressio with a couple of extra shots of caffeine; this works wonders when you're trying to pull an all-nighter with deadlines _long_ overdue. Failing coffee, try a nice creamy cheese, just don't fall asleep after eating it; it does weird things with your dreams.

As the being slowly inhaled and exhaled for the first time in eons, enjoying the sensation of whistling breath and the slow, languid throb of a pulse, a second, equally powerful work had been set into motion. From the nexus of the mighty ruby, just as the prisoner had been released, so too had a second, equally important command; as Espio had sensed, a first ripple of power shivered through the earth, swiftly followed by a second, then a third, each barely making an impact on any instruments set to record the tremors of the earth as they diffused throughout the solid rock and spread outwards unceasingly. The expanding rings caused the sea to quiver as each rushed off the shore past Station Square and plunged heedlessly into the ocean, racing away to undo that which had been done so long ago in the past. As wave after wave of control raced from the ruby, so too was another dormant source of power activated; in the dead of the night, a second set of ripples began to be released. As the world slept, the combined powers of these ripples began to wash away the actions of ages long forgotten, undoing that which had been done both for good and for ill.

Morning followed night, as it always must; the sun peeking out from behind an overhanging cloud shone directly into the eyes of Rouge as the bat began to awaken. Slowly opening her aqua eyes, the bat pulled herself into a sitting position and yawned deeply, glancing over to her left and smiling; just for once she'd managed to beat Knuckles in getting up in the morning. The echidna stirred just as the bat slid her legs out of bed,

"Morning Knucks, sleep okay?"

"You bet", the echidna smiled; due to the cold weather it was necessary for the two Mobians to share the guardian's recently enlarged bed to preserve body heat; nothing had happened between the pair but even so, Knuckles was comforted by the basic, primal desire to have someone he loved that close to him, "you're really warm at night; like sleeping next to a radiator". Rouge smiled as she slipped next door to change into her jumpsuit,

"You know what they say – warm hands warm heart; stay there for now, I'll do something about breakfast".

"The fruit bowl full is it?" The bat's reply was muffled through the door but the sauciness in it was tangy even at that range,

"Cheeky sod; remember where that sort of comment got you last time", Rouge smiled as she recalled her revenge of sorts, "left a nasty taste in your mouth as I recall".

"Bitter-root soup's a cheap way to get your own back batgirl" he shot back, sliding out of bed and slipping his feet into his shoes; _I need to pay her back for that little stunt – what to do, what to do?_ As the echidna tied the laces and stood up, the bedroom door creaked back open with a shout of,

"Catch".

With the ease of long practise the echidna span on his heel, tracked the movement with his eyes, shot up a single gloved paw and snatched the hard hickory nut out the air, smirking as Rouge raised an idiosyncratic eyebrow,

"Nice try".

"Who said I was trying", the bat replied smartly, biting into the apple she'd picked up for herself as Knuckles used his namesakes to quickly shell the nut and pop the soft interior into his mouth. The fruit was bitter but Knuckles had lived off them for years and the flavour really didn't bother him as he finished the first and Rouge flipped him another; he reached for it when it hit him.

A strange wave of sudden, sweeping cold raced over his entire body and he gasped in shock, extended arm falling limply to his side in the wake of the biting chill. The hickory nut bounced off the crest of his ancestry as the guardian gasped, breath stolen from his lungs by the creeping, infiltrating fingers of frost.

"Knuckles", Rouge saw his eyes widen in shock and heard his gasp; she instantly became more alert as the echidna shuddered, "Knuckles, what is it?" The guardian didn't answer immediately as he sucked down oxygen enough to reply, mind racing for a rational explanation in the light of such a shock to the system first thing in the morning. The bat let her apple drop to the floor as she raced to his side, helping support him as he stumbled a little, warmth beginning to return to his body with a sensation of pins and needles in his extremities. His lilac eyes looked up into Rouge's concerned aqua orbs and he managed to gasp a reply,

"Cold", he managed to stutter, "like a wave of ice all over me"; _something's wrong here, that wasn't like anything I've…the Master!_ Knuckles snapped his head up and fire burned in his eyes, evaporating the remaining traces of cold in a furnace as he realised the most likely cause of the phenomenon, "Rouge, the shrine".

"The M.E", the bat nodded and quickly raced outside, Knuckles right on her heels as their instincts to protect the giant power source of their haven kicked in, "grab on". Rouge spread her wings and took to the air as Knuckles leapt up; their wrists met and they clamped onto each other as they had practised so often together. Rouge pulled up, pin-pointing the way to her destination without effort as Knuckles silently fretted about what had caused that rush of power over him and what it might mean.

"Something's not right Knucks". As soon as his feet touched the floor, the echidna found himself agreeing with his partner; Rouge wasn't in tune with the Master Emerald like he was but for this he didn't think you'd need to be. The air at the entrance to the shrine of the Master Emerald was oppressive and heavy, almost shimmering like a heat haze despite the fact it was just before the New Year. Something was definitely very wrong with this situation and Knuckles glanced over to the bat as she tucked her wings away behind her back,

"You said it Rouge", he slapped her shoulder and inclined his head towards the entrance, mind in overdrive as he thought about what could be causing this imbalance, "come on, we've got to get to the Master". She nodded and followed his lead towards the entrance, mentally preparing herself for anything as the guardian reached the stone portal. Knuckles felt the power of the great green jewel and realised with a heart of stone that, rather than the constant influence it should have been, this was wild and fluctuating, fluttering in power like an unsteady heartbeat. As he neared the entrance there was a great pulse of power; a second wave of ice flashed over the echidna and Knuckles nearly collapsed from the cold; if Rouge hadn't have caught him he'd have gone to his knees.

"What is it Knuckles; what's doing this?" The bat forced herself to remain calm; if her spy training had taught her anything it was that loosing your nerve in a position like this could swiftly result in loosing your head shortly afterwards. Knuckles shivered as he forced himself to his feet and spoke a reply through chattering teeth,

"The Master, the power's not right; it's too unstable", he gripped Rouge by the hand and pulled her forwards, "we gotta get closer". Panic gripped the bat and she resisted the pull,

"No Knucks, you wait here", she reasoned quickly as he snapped his head around disbelievingly, "whatever's doing this is affecting you, not me; I'll see and come back, it's safer that way". He thought for a second before nodding his assent,

"Go for it Rouge; if it's dangerous, come back".

"Got it"; ducking past the guardian, the bat raced into the shrine of the Master Emerald, unsure of what awaited her within.

The spy raced in, the air strangely heavy and dragging her limbs down, killing her speed and hindering her progress. She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to fight against this unnatural force as she urged herself onward; the effect was increasing the closer she came to the great glowing form of the Master Emerald, it increased to the point where the bad felt she was swimming through the thick air rather than simply walking. _I gotta keep going; gotta find out what's doing this, and why it's affecting Knuckles_; Rouge could see the green glow of the Master emanating from the main chamber of the shrine and her breath caught in her throat – unlike the normal steady green glow, the light was now flaring up and down, dim one minute and shining like a star the next. As she fought to go forwards, there was a sudden bright glare up ahead and Rouge shielded her eyes with her hands, feeling the light wash over her like a torch beam; her superb hearing told her there was a shout of alarm from behind her as the light retreated back into the main chamber. Her eyes widened as she realised this was it, the pulses were causing Knuckles to react; they had to be surges of emerald energy, but what was causing it? She put on an extra spurt, rounding the last corner as though she was wading through thick glue, trying to see what was causing this anomaly; what she found was beyond her comprehension, even with all the guardian had told her of the Master Emerald and its powers.

The great jewel wasn't on its normal plinth; it was levitating several feet above it and rotating at a moderate speed. This alone would have been alarming enough, but the more pressing fact was that the stone was now glowing much more differently than before. The bat could see the green light contract and expand within the Master Emerald, the speed of these pulses increasing until, as she watched, there was another heave and the light radiated from the emerald in a perfect circle. She felt a very slight tremor through her boots and she covered her eyes; when she was sure it was safe she dropped her gaze and rapidly calculated the best course of action. She couldn't approach the jewel, she didn't know enough for this to be safe and Knuckles probably couldn't get close enough for a diagnosis; _he's never mentioned anything like this before, I'm not sure even he'd know what's going on_; Rouge shook her head as she made her snap decision. She had to get herself and Knuckles away from here before it affected him too much; there didn't seem to be anything actually threatening the Master Emerald so it seemed like a natural process, if there actually was anything natural about this glimmering gem. She turned to leave ponderously, still slowed unnaturally by the sluggish nature of the electrified air in the main area of the shrine. As she left the carved monument, the bat quickly noted that sections of chiselled text on the sides of the shrine were beginning to glow more brightly than before; that was something she'd have to check with Knuckles; that may have happened before, she didn't know. With all the speed and urgency she could muster, Rouge headed back to where she'd left her partner.

Behind the retreating bat, in perfect synchronicity with its own partner, the Master Emerald unleashed another wave of power, each additional bow of mystic strength helping to erode away the boundaries that separated that which was from that which had been lost.

"Knuckles", the guardian heard his friend's voice precede her; he would have replied had his body not been assailed by a punishing blow of heat, much like the last one had been. _Much more of this and I'm gonna start suffering freeze-thaw_; the echidna smiled grimly as he saw Rouge had managed to clear the shimmering entrance to the shrine and was moving towards him; he breathed a sigh of relief as he realised whatever was going on in there had left her unscathed.

"Rouge, over here", he waved over urgently; she caught the movement and approached, breathing heavily as the battle against the very nature of the shrine's interior took its toll, "what's going on; is the emerald in danger?" Rouge looked up, licked her dried lips and shook her head,

"No Knucks it's not; I think the Master's what's causing this", he choked off his heartfelt breath of relief in amazement as she continued, "the emerald's about six feet off the plinth and rotating; it's pulsing with light, like it's having contractions or something. Every time there's a big glow you get hit like that; we've got to get you away from here – it wasn't so bad at the cabin was it?" Knuckles was torn between his instinctual desire to protect the emerald and his need to be away from what was causing his body to rebel like this. In the split-second he had to decide, the decision was taken out of his hands by another burst of sensation, this one felt literally like a wave crashing down over him; he was surprised not to see water cascading of his fur as Rouge grabbed his hand, concern scribbled all over her face.

"C'mon, no time for any of that macho guardian routine; this isn't healthy and we're getting out the way of it". Knuckles didn't resist as the bat half led half dragged him away from the shrine as he realised grudgingly she was right on this one and moved up to her speed. The pair sped away, leaving the rippling Master Emerald in their wake to fulfil half of a most ancient pact.

"You're right you know", Knuckles smiled grittily as Rouge glanced up, "it's not so bad from here", he then went completely business-like and serious; he needed to know everything she could tell him about what she had seen, "what else was there, apart from the Master in the air and glowing?"

"That was it really, nothing else", rouge shut her eyes as she tried to picture the scene exactly as it had been in her mind; the glowing Master suspended in the air, the way the light had shone and then retracted, the…yes, that was something, "there was writing on the wall as well; it was glowing too, but I couldn't read it". Knuckles nodded and put his chin on his fist, trying to rapidly mull this information over in his head,

"I never could much either – from what you've said this seems like something that the Master's doing alone and without guidance".

"The question is, what's it doing and why is it doing it, especially now" Rouge finished for him; Knuckles nodded and then shook again as a second phantom water-wave slid over him; Rouge saw him grit his teeth and patted his hand in support.

"Still feeling it?" He managed a wry smile,

"Yeah, not letting up yet; still as strong as", _hey, wait a second; I'm feeling it here too;_ Knuckles sat up straighter, his eyes burning as he pointed off to the left, "Rouge, my cabin's that way right?" She followed his paw and nodded,

"Yeah?"

"So how can I feel this, er, this power, from here as well as from the cabin", he faced her and grinned as the realisation dawned on her face, "it's spreading Rouge, spreading out equally, like if you throw a stone in a puddle". The bat looked upwards, facing outwards, away from the Master Emerald shrine, a curious, almost hungry look in her eyes.

"Then there's only one thing to do; come on", she offered her hand; echoing her look of determination and drive, Knuckles accepted the help in pulling himself to his feet and facing her way, "we've got to find out where this power's flowing to". The echidna clapped her gently on the shoulder, smiling even as a desert wind howled over his back,

"You're on; race ya!" The guardian sprinted off before Rouge was ready; loudly denouncing him a cheat, the bat spread her wings and darted off after the echidna.

After gaining enough altitude, Rouge was able to slightly overtake Knuckles, though she hang back enough to remain in his sight; something neither of the two Mobians understood fully was at work and the last thing they needed was to become separated. The bat kept her eyes fully peeled, sweeping over her home as Knuckles scouted the ground; long association with every inch of his home turf allowed him to see if anything was amiss even as he moved at full speed and with energy ruffling his fur at even intervals. Rouge did not yet have such familiarity with the rough terrain of Angel Island though Knuckles had said that over the comparatively few months she'd been a full term resident she'd improved beyond even his expectations. Even so, though Rouge was the first to pass the main anomaly, she didn't recognise it as such and simply carried on flying overhead. Knuckles, however, was a slightly different story; as soon as he cleared the woodland he'd been running through, he took a single look at the terrain before him and choked completely; he stumbled forwards and only a reflexive forwards roll saved from eating a mouthful of soil. _This can not be happening; something's too far wrong for this…wait, no_; a sudden panic gripped the echidna and he roared at the top of his lungs.

"ROUGE! WAIT, COME BACK!"

_Yikes! Knucks; he must have found something – he never shouts like that normally_; Rouge banked sharply in the air, her aeronautically streamlined body allowed her to quickly complete a wild hundred and eighty degree turn in mid-air. She arrowed back the way she had come, back to her island-mate as inwardly she wondered what could have made him call out like that; it had to be really important for the taciturn echidna to break his normal silence that violently. There he was; the ex-spy came in to land just as the guardian pulled himself slowly to his feet, willing himself to disbelieve what was in front of him, dismiss it all as a delirious dream, to do anything but accept what reality had put in front of him. However, as Rouge landed that illusion was shattered for all time; the echidna breathed slowly and labouredly as she approached cautiously; the wild look in his lilac eyes was reason enough to be careful, especially with the recent upheaval that the imbalance in the Master Emerald had caused. As Knuckles tried to take in what he'd realised, Rouge approached softly, stopping several feet in front of him and calling.

"Knuckles", the guardian looked up at her, "what's up babe; not like you to call me out the sky like that?" The guardian managed a weak smile at the term of endearment before he answered,

"Umm, notice anything strange Rouge?" She glanced around briefly; if anything was there she couldn't see it yet; she shook her head and shrugged,

"No".

"I do, and I think, huh, this is just, just, I don't know what it is", the echidna was overcome; he put his hand on his head and wiped the freezing sweat off his brow, "I think I've realised why the Master Emerald's out of balance".

"Why's that Knuckles?"

"Because", he pointed to a spot just in front of the stationary bat with a shaking hand, "I recognise that line there; that's the edge of Angel Island".

Rouge blinked, not taking it in at first; she looked at the ground her was pointing at, his words ringing in her ears as the breath caught in her throat. _Oh my God, he's right; this is the shore; I'm stood on…ah!_ Rouge sprinted onto the ground Knuckles had pointed as being behind the edge of the floating island, standing next to the stationary guardian as he stood still as stone, feeling a ripple of power pass over him; as he had both expected and wished to be untrue, there was a shimmer up ahead and he could instinctively feel his natural territory had increased in size again – Angel Island was growing.

Rouge wasn't sure how long she stood there, rooted to the spot as the sheer enormity of what had happened, what was still happening, rocked into her like an avalanche. Knuckles was by her side, watching on dispassionately as he felt the now familiar waves of sensation rush over him and race forwards still, producing more new ground in front of his eyes; more of Angel Island to protect and guard. The two could have been still for minutes or hours, each lost in their own thoughts as they tried to fathom the full implications of what was happening and the potential consequences that could arise, before Rouge was the first to break the spell. Knuckles glanced over at her as he felt, rather than saw, the bat move backwards.

"Where are you going?" His tone was soft; he was genuinely curious rather than accusing her of cowardice in the face of the unknown; Rouge looked back at him and smiled weakly, shrugging as the echidna shivered at the latest wave of power.

"To get some blankets and for provisions"; when he looked a little confused at this reasoning, she laughed and shook her head, "you said it yourself Knucklehead – we've got to find out what's causing this", she pointed to the new land in front of her in as Knuckles agreed with her logic and smiled.

"We've got some exploring to do – you reckon the reason for this is out there somewhere?"

"Better to find it than potentially wait for it to come to us; besides", she echoed his smile as her eyes softened in benevolence, "the further we are from the Master, the less those light rays it's sending out will affect you. Now wait there, I'll go get what we need".

"Nice one batgirl, and thanks", she looked over her shoulder as Knuckles made to sit down, "it's good to know you're looking out for me". She chuckled as she widened her wing span and bent her legs for take-off,

"Someone has to".

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that", the echidna smiled dangerously, "now hurry; I want to know exactly what's out there and why this is happening". Without another word the bat took to the air, heading first to the home they shared to gather what was needed as from the shrine dedicated to its protection, the Master Emerald continued to recall that which it had helped seal away in the distant past.

As Rouge was lost from view, Knuckles gradually stood up and turned around, facing back out to this strange, new world and viewing it through narrowed eyes. Anger and sheer brute force wasn't going to help him solve this problem; he had to accept this was happening and try to logically figure out why it was happening and, if possible, what had caused it. As he closed his eyes and went through a few of the breathing exercises he had developed to help him maintain focus and concentration, a hint of humour tugged at him and he smiled; _of all the things I expected this morning, I can bet money that Angel Island growing in size wasn't one of them_. It took a little time, especially as the waves from the heart of his island were still passing over his skin with regular monotony, but eventually the tension eased from his body and he re-opened his eyes, looking at the new landscape in front of him with clinical thinking as his foremost thought. He stood and waited patiently; as cool logic infiltrated his mind, a sudden thought occurred to the guardian. Curiosity taking over for the moment, Knuckles acted on this sudden idea; taking a few steps forwards, the echidna crossed the threshold of his island, standing on the ground that had not been there the previous day. As soon as his feet touched this new ground, his curiosity was satisfied; _so, this is Angel Island as well._

Unlike most other Mobains, and most humans for that matter, Knuckles had a finely honed sense of territory; the soil of Angel Island was his ancestral home and, in a way, he was tightly bound to it. Though the echidna never admitted it, one of the reasons he was never entirely comfortable being away from his island was that it didn't feel natural; he felt like an interloper on someone else's territory and that made him uneasy. However, the ground now underneath his feet didn't make him feel any different; therefore, he logically concluded, it stood to reason that this new land must now be part of Angel Island and ergo, it was his territory. _So, from what Rouge told me and what I can feel, the island seems to be increasing in size, and this is due to the influence of the Master Emerald_; Knuckles felt a twinge of both apprehension and excitement – excited in the prospect of a new part of his home, but tempered, always tempered, by an instinctual mistrust of the unknown. Still, if he looked at it positively, this could be considered an exercise in his survival skill as he explored an unknown area.

"Hey Knuckles", the guardian didn't turn around as he the soft thump of Rouge landing behind him; _and unlike most other times, I at least won't be on my own on this one_, "what you doing?"

"Sorry batgirl", he span to face her and shrugged apologetically, "lost in thought".

"Lost in something", she smiled as she threw a rolled up blanket over to the echidna; the pouch she wore over her hips contained a selection of edibles that they could use if food turned scarce, "come on; let's go and face the brave new world". Knuckles slung the blanket over one shoulder and nodded, smiling as Rouge joined him on the territory he'd never known until now.

The pair of Mobians quickly established a rough system of marking the way they had come in case they needed to backtrack; Knuckles used his spurs to mark tree bark and scratch arrows in the dirt while Rouge hovered in the air above him, calling out directions for him to follow as she guided him remotely to the next easily discernible landmark. The pace was slow and a fraction of the speed either Mobian could have achieved but this was most definitely a case of slow and steady winning the race; both were experienced enough to know the potential consequences of becoming lost in unfamiliar surroundings like these. It was still fairly cold in the air, though the sun was shining in the sky quite brightly, so Rouge was forced to call a halt after a few hours of this pace; as Knuckles waited for her by the shores of a small lake the bat landed and stretched her wings fully,

"Oh, that's a bit stiff", she seated herself as Knuckles spread the blanket he had brought with them out like a cloth.

"Take a seat Rouge, we'll take a bit of a break here; it's a nice enough spot if nothing else, ah, cold" he suddenly remarked as the Master Emerald sent a timely reminder that whatever it was doing, it hadn't quite finished yet.

"Still pulsing huh?"

"Yeah, but you were right; it's not so bad from here", Knuckles sat in a lotus position as Rouge fished some fruit out of her hip pouches, "but why is that; from what I can tell, this new land is being made, for want of a better word, by the M.E., so why's the power weaker the further away I am?"

"Not the power Knucks", Rouge managed to correct him, snapping her fingers as a sudden thought occurred to her and appeared to make sense, "just your sensations, think about it. The master's creating this land out here, so most of the power has to go into that, er, activity, so there's less to mess you around with out here". _Gotta give her credit; that makes a lot of sense_.

"Okay, I'll take that", Knuckles admitted, mulling the idea over and not finding anything wrong with it, "but that just leaves us with a bigger problem; why is the Master doing this in the first place?" As the pair of Mobians held an impromptu picnic, they both thought hard and bounced theories off each other;

"I take it nothing like this has ever happened before?"

"Not that I can remember", Knuckles smiled as he cast his mind back, "we've had plummeting into the ocean, a couple of minor forest fires and a hurricane before now, but land being created, nah, that's a new one on me". Rouge licked her lips as she recalled that at least some of the aforementioned plummeting had been caused indirectly by her.

"Hmm, not got too many ideas left Knucks, maybe…"

"Maybe it's you".

_What_; Rouge wasn't sure if the echidna was joking or not as he kept his face completely neutral, looking at her deeply as though suddenly seeing something new about her.

"What, and just what does that mean?"

"Maybe, just maybe", Knuckles moved towards her slightly, his intent look suddenly even more intense, "the Master now thinks of you as a guardian and is just, you know, increasing the space accordingly?" _Me, a guardian_; Rouge shook her head slightly as she tried to digest what the echidna was saying even as he carried on,

"I'm not sure of course, but you have been here a lot longer than any other Mobian apart from me; I know the M.E. isn't truly sentient as we understand the term but it can 'sense' things, if you like".

"So you're saying", the bat's voice was an awed whisper, "because I've been here so long, the M.E. thinks it's now got two guardians and is making sure we've both got enough living room?" _I can't believe it – I'd like it to be true but, but too many things just don't make sense if that's the case_; she shook her head as Knuckles laughed slightly,

"I'm not sure I agree with that fully Knucks; creating a new part of the island just for me – sounds a bit far-fetched if you ask me and besides", she smiled and moved slightly closer to the echidna, "I wouldn't want more space; I liked the space we shared just fine thank you very much". Knuckles finished the nut he was eating and winked at her,

"Just as well, I didn't want more island either, just means more legwork for the both of us, but", he stood up and gestured her off the mat, "we're not going to get answers just sitting here; feeling up to a high-fly?"

"You bet; just give me a boost after we've cleared up", the bat helped the guardian fold the blanket and clipped it properly onto his back; when this was done he turned back to face her and cupped his hands.

"When you're ready Rouge?" The ex-spy backed off a bit, took as much of a run-up as she could and exploded forwards, leaping up and onto the echidna's paws. Using all the strength of his arms and back, Knuckles heaved upwards, propelling Rouge vertically into the air. Her wings snapped open at the zenith of her trajectory and she beat them rapidly, fighting for altitude as she went for a birds-eye view of her surroundings.

The high-fly was a technique Knuckles and Rouge had worked on since they'd been together; its main use was for surveillance of unfamiliar territory. Basically, the principles behind it were very simple; Knuckles helped the bat get a head start of maybe fifteen feet into the air, she did the rest with her wings. It was, however, quite tiring for Rouge; bat wings weren't especially designed to gain altitude efficiently, so the most she could manage was maybe a hundred and fifty to two hundred feet, followed by a gentle glide back to ground. As she fought for height and tried to ignore the growing pain in her shoulders, Rouge took a view of the new surroundings and gaped at what was now below her. When she couldn't go any higher she set her wings for a glide, straightening them as she tried to take in as much as was possible before she was forced to go to ground completely. As her line of sight was obscured by the trees surrounding the lake she set herself up to land, Knuckles close by and interested as she pulled to a stop after a slight run down.

"Well, what did you see?"

"How big's Angel Island Knucks?" The question threw the echidna off somewhat; he'd never actually thought to measure it properly but could come up with a reasonable guess,

"Say, about, hundred and twenty square kilometres, why?"

"Because", _please don't take this too hard_; Rouge steeled herself to break the news, "it's at least four or five times that now".

"Four, or five?" Knuckles reeled from the news, eyes glazing over slightly as it didn't sink in at first; _so much extra, to guard, patrol, protect…oh by the Master, what's going on_? Rouge waited patiently, though in all honesty she didn't think she had much of a choice; this had come as a huge shock to her and probably an even bigger one to Knuckles – he just needed time to come to terms with this. She simply stood quietly, waiting for him to make the next move; after a few moments of breathing exercises and clenching and unclenching his fists, the echidna finally swallowed the bitter pill and spoke again.

"What's out there?" Rouge pointed over to their left,

"There's a large lake over that sort of direction and what looks like a range of small mountains over to the right; the area in between seems pretty much wild like the rest of the island but", she gave a tight smile and crossed her fingers, "I don't think that's it yet".

"Neither did I".

"Really?" _He's being a bit calm about that_. Knuckles answered her quizzical look with a casual shrug and ran a hand over the top of his head,

"I can feel it remember; the waves are still coming, which reminds me", he pointed carefully, an idea now germinating in his mind, "you say there's a lake over there right?"

"Yep, but it's not complete yet", Rouge drew a V-shape in the air in front of her, then chopped down, signalling a cut off point, "there's water and then the lake just ends, right on the edge of the island, as it is now; why, what do you think is happening?"

"There's different forms of energy, it feels different", the echidna tried to explain, drawing on the recent exploration to strengthen his hypothesis, "when we were walking towards the mountains, it felt like someone was scraping me over with a pumice stone; later when we were heading towards the lake it was just like a wave going over my head. Somehow I can feel what's being 'created', if you like". Rouge regarded her partner wide-eyed as the guardian felt another ripple pass overhead and cringed slightly; the bat noticed this and gave a nervous chuckle,

"So, what was that then?"

"Felt a bit like a cat's tongue; I think that's just grassland".

"Right, well then", Rouge looked forwards to the uncharted territory with a steely eye, "where should we go next; mountains or lake?" Knuckles had no hesitation,

"Lake, the water feeling's better than the pumice, that's just weird", the echidna gave a shudder as the bat made to set off,

"Come on treasure hunter; quite literally", she gave a slight laugh as the irony of the situation made itself plain, "it's a whole new world out there". With Knuckles by her side, Rouge took the first step into this new and unfamiliar world, the bitter chill of winter lost in the fires of excitement that burned in this next challenge.

As the two Mobians headed away from what had been their home, a short while later a third Mobian headed towards her own. Amy had spent a most pleasurable day in the company of Cream and her mother as the three had spent the day shopping and, most importantly in Amy's eyes, had finally managed to get Big's priceless portraits framed properly. As she slipped her front door open, Amy was already thinking about the best place to put the new picture; after a few minutes thinking and trying different poses and positions, she finally decided it looked best right on her bedroom draw, that way it was right by her head when she slept. She smiled as she gently ran her gloved fingers over the plain glass; she had always believed that sleeping under something precious to your heart helped to ward off nightmares and, apparently, it worked; last night's sleep had been the best she'd had in ages. _Almost makes me look forwards to tonight_; Amy fluffed up her pillow as she decided what she was going to do first was cook something for dinner; she fancied an omelette with a little salad garnish, or maybe a small salad; _hold that thought_. Amy quickly shook ideas for food out of her head as her phone trilled and she casually walked to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Ah, hi Amy"; the pink hedgehog listened closely as she heard Shadow on the other end of the line, "glad you're in, been trying to get in touch all day".

"Sorry, I was with Cream, out shopping; what's up?"

"The opposite of down; sorry, sorry but it had to be said – you walked right into that one"; Shadow gave an ironic chuckles as Amy held the phone away from her ear as though in protest to the utter awfulness of the black hedgehog's joke.

"Bad, bad Shads; terrible even for you", she was grateful he could only hear her voice rather than see her reluctant smile, "tell me what you want before your awful quips zombify me". At the other end, the former ultimate life-form smiled and made her his offer.

"Okay here's the deal; Sonic, Tails and I are having a bit of a night in tomorrow, wondered if you'd be interested?"

Amy quickly creased her brow, checking her internal calendar to try and see if she had anything planned for tomorrow evening; as she found out she didn't, but then again, Shadow didn't know that and that had just been an appalling joke,

"Well, I'm not sure, got a lot of stuff to clear up after Christmas and I need to get my house in order, so, you know, I'm not too sure…"

"Ames, it's very simple; you say yes or you say no".

"But there's so much to do, I'm not sure if I can…"; Shadow finally saw what the other hedgehog was doing and cursed himself for falling for it; he decided to put on the pressure with a countdown,

"One".

"...got to vacuum the floors and wash the windows; you have no idea how hard that is…"

"Two"; the black hedgehog fought to keep a hint of a laugh out of his voice as Amy finally relented,

"…but I guess I can do that in the morning; sure, I'm in". _Finally, praise the Lord and rejoice; I made meaningful contact_; Amy heard her friend sigh and speak wearily,

"Good, Sonic or I will see you tomorrow at about five-ish, that okay?"

"Should be fine; what's the order of the night?"

"A couple of games of cards, a few films and maybe a pizza between us – we're not going to be too late, should have you home by about eleven at the latest; cool?"

"Sure, should be a blast", the rose-coloured rascal smiled suddenly, "want me to bring a video?" She winced and smiled as Shadow's voice blasted down the line,

"NO"; _bad memories, bad memories, get 'em out, get 'em out_; "I am not sitting through another chick-flick marathon; Eggman himself never came up with a torture as bad as that", he had to grant a concession here, even if it was only minor and grudging, "though Chicken Run was actually quite funny".

"Good, glad one of you enjoyed it. Okay, I'll let you pick the videos, just as long as they're not all blood, guts and gore, those ones are dead boring".

""We'll try, anyway, I gotta go; my turn to cook tonight and Sonic's awaiting".

"Good luck feeding that gannet". She heard a badly repressed snigger and Shadow bade her goodnight; as she clicked the phone down she felt a surge of joy; she had something to look forwards to tomorrow night and all she had left to do now was find something to fill the void for tonight – shouldn't be a problem.

With a sudden slurping noise, the frond came away from the silty bottom of the small stream; up to his knees in water, Knuckles added the uprooted bull frond to the other three in his other hand and, reasoning that should be enough, sloshed back to shore, the scent of wood smoke in his nostrils as he recovered his abandoned shoes. There was a dim glow just off to the left of the stream and Knuckles hid a smile; Rouge had been up to her old tricks again.

"Cheater" he called as he approached the warming glow of the fire, waiting with a smile for the forthcoming reply; in a second, it arrived,

"I did not cheat", Rouge glared up at the echidna as he entered the circle of fire light; the small blaze she had made crackling merrily as it fed on the slightly damp twigs she had managed to scavenge from the local area, "this is a genuine, bona-fide class A natural fire made by yours truly".

"Oh really", Knuckles made a big show of taking a deep breath; though it was drowned in the burning scent of the wood, there was no mistaking the acrid tang of propane with a nose as keen as his, "struck oil on my Island have you?" Rouge sat up suddenly from where she'd been warming her hands and cold ears,

"It's not your island, it's mine; I declare right of finders keepers".

"You can't do that".

"I just did", the bat posed triumphantly as Knuckles was left without a punch-line; technically she was right – this was unclaimed land and she'd beaten him to the crunch, "and on my land it's perfectly acceptable to use a lighter to make a fire". The echidna smiled as he sat down and carefully placed the still dripping bulb ends of the bull rushes in the hottest part of the fire; the flames hissed and crackled as they evaporated the water and began to cook the pair's meal.

"What other rules do you have, oh queen of the isle?"

"Well, there's a tax on all echidnas", _how'd I know that one was coming_, "they have to sleep under the ragged bit of the blanket".

"Blatant repression", Knuckles stood tall and shook his fist, playing along with the smirking bat as she shook her head, "I'm making a stand against that rule; cruelty to echidnas".

"You wish to appeal to the queen; okay then", Rouge rolled her eyes for a few seconds, "appeal denied, sorry". Knuckles acted gob-smacked as she shrugged helplessly,

"Don't I get a say in the matter?"

"No; I said I was a queen, I didn't say I was a fair one. Besides", she indicated the red fur of her friend, "you've got thicker fur than me by a long shot and it's gonna be cold tonight".

"Fair enough", Knuckles took the point on board and accepted it as true; Rouge wasn't exactly a shrinking violet but she wasn't naturally as hardy as the guardian was; that didn't mean he was going to let her off completely though, "you soft city types need all the help you can get". _Oh, cheap shot; need back-up…sustained_; Rouge regarded the grinning guardian coldly as she gave of a distinct aura of dignity,

"The only reason the queen isn't calling for your head is because you're cooking her dinner; get on with it servant".

"As you command, oh mighty majesty", Knuckle removed one of the fronds from the small fire and tested it with a barb; _soft enough, should be okay by now_. Using the keen edge of the natural knife, the echidna slit open the tough exterior of the root and inhaled the sweet steam that rose from the inside, the light white flesh of the cooked plant inviting and, he knew, tasty as well. He handed the opened stalk to Rouge with a smile,

"Here, this should be good enough; don't eat it right away, suck the sap out of it first or it goes everywhere". The bat nodded and tucked in, her evolved teeth giving her an advantage in eating the juicy root, much to Knuckle's chagrin; even though he'd given the warning, he was still the one that got caught out. There was a sudden squelch as Knuckles bit down a mite too hard and the bulb seemed to pop, sweet, sticky water cascading down his chin as Rouge laughed,

"You slob; after all that talk about eating it carefully", she couldn't tell completely by the firelight but she thought he might have blushed a little; a rare phenomenon that always managed to catch her interest as it was just so unusual to see a red furred Mobian go even redder, "go and wash it off in the stream before it dries on".

"I think I'll eat the other one first" the echidna commented dryly, reaching for the third bulb out of four and quickly wolfing it down, "I'm just grateful it's not summer; I'd have the midges all over me by now". He rose to clear up as Rouge reached for her last portion, chuckling as she realised how right he was; she'd never had a full summer on Angel Island before; something else to look forwards to.

"What are you feeling Knucks?" The sudden thought occurred to Rouge as she heard the echidna return from his wash. Knuckles had a reasonable idea about what she was on about and tried to explain it; the sensations of the emerald power washing over him had become so rhythmical he barely noticed them any more.

"It's still, umm, still like water, a bit – I guess that means we're still headed the right way".

"Good; hopefully we'll have a clearer picture by tomorrow"; the bat spread their blanket and wormed her way underneath it, patting the area by the side of her encouragingly, "may as well get an early night". Knuckles nodded solemnly, trying desperately not to blush at the same time as keep his face straight; he saw the logic in bed-sharing, especially in this cold weather, but it was still taking some getting used to as he had been used to sleeping alone. He slipped in next to her after checking the fire was smouldering and not going to escape in the night to cause an inferno; Rouge rested her head on his extended arm just as she had months ago on his cabin floor after they'd broken down in each other's arms and glanced up at his face.

"Hey Knucks", a couple of his dreadlock tickled her cheeks as he turned his head to catch a glimpse of her in the corner of his eye; she squeezed one of his hands as she smiled encouragingly, "whatever's out there, we face it together, right?" She felt him grip back gently; he was well aware of what his strength could do if he was too heavy-handed with it,

"You said it Rouge, we'll sort out this problem together", he smiled at her, the firelight reflecting the purple of his eyes, "and I'm glad I've got you to back me up this time". Rouge smiled back, inwardly lifted up as the echidna's words warmed her heart like no jewel had ever been able to thus far; with Knuckles with her, she could tackle any obstacle, no matter how far-fetched it might have seemed. As the stars began to dim in her vision and she heard Knuckles' rhythmic breathing in her ear, she idly wondered if he felt the same way.

As night descended, all slept and all was peaceful; all, that was, except in one apartment in Station Square; as Amy Rose drifted off into the realm of fantasy and dreams, her control over her body was diminished and gradually dissolved, allowing a second, alien influence to spread throughout her body like a mould. As before, Amy's body opened its eyes under the influence of someone else and an ancient being found itself re-clothed in mortality.

_A pulse, the feeling of the same slow, red river running through my host is as strange as it was on the previous night; yes, I recognise this as night – the absence of daylight means night has fallen. The host sleeps; I have control until the host's conscious is rested and reawakened and I must relinquish the hold or risk discovery. The night is early; I have time now. Time to think, time to remember, time to try and discover – who am I?_

_I am prepared; I must try to move, the action impeded by the nature of the host's position and the enfolding material over the host's body – a blanket, yes that's right. The host is asleep and preserves warmth by covering its body with extra layers of insulating material. The arms can move the blanket; it falls away, and now the legs, move slowly and carefully, the host's body must not be damaged, it will arouse suspicion._

Under the being's clumsy order, unused to the feeling of having a body to manoeuvre at all, Amy opened her eyes and swung her legs out of bed; the side of her right foot crashed into the floor rather harder then the being intended and another important concept was remembered.

_Pain! Cursed, unwanted pain! I have felt it before, too much of it; the response of the body to a hostile environment, and other forms of pain as well. The pain of the heart, caused by a loved one's loss; that has happened as well, but when? Why? The sensations are remembered, but not completely. I must remain dormant and try to recall; I make progress and must learn while I have the chance. Now concentrate, the next motions are complex_.

Amy stood unsteadily, the controlling mind gradually relearning the concept of balance as it forced the host body to remain upright. When it was ready and sure the host was as steady as it could be, it forced one foot in front of the other, desperately trying to catch the centre of gravity before its body collapsed to the floor. It managed this, but the movement was ungraceful and awkward and the being was not satisfied; slowly it regathered Amy's body to the starting position and tried again, this time going for a smaller step.

_Success; mobility has been attained, but this feels unnatural, though I can not determine why. The host is a curious organism; it is a biped and has advanced intelligence; it would be logical to see what manner of body I am encased within. I believe it to be female; this also feels somewhat unnatural; I am almost sure I am not female. I require the aid of a light source and a reflective surface; remember the preservation of host integrity is of utmost importance; it's the host mind's body as well as mine._

Slowly, concentration etched in her face, Amy's body lurched and tottered towards the door of the bedroom; the being remembered that light could be called forwards by depressing the button on the side of the wall. Slowly extending a single arm and beyond that, a single finger, and touched the curious button; luckily, when light flooded the room, the body had faster reflexes than the being and shut its eyes to avoid blindness.

_So, pushing the button does call forth light, but how? I will have to research this method of lighting later; for now I must concentrate on basic mobility skills and learning of the host organism. There should be a reflective surface somewhere behind me_.

Slowly, the being turned around and for the first time saw Amy Rose reflected in the full length mirror.

_Curious; the host is female. This body feels unusual; is this because I have been too long sealed away or because the host is not an adequate replacement for my own body – I remember that I did have a body before, before_ - Amy's face furrowed in concentration as the mind controlling it tried to recall something that had been lost – _I do not remember. For now that is immaterial; I will have time in the future to begin to unravel the past. Now, I must learn to…_

The being paused, Amy's skin prickling into goose-bumps as something rushed overhead, a surge of power it could at once detect and recognise to a very basic level.

_That, the power, so familiar, yet so strange; I do not understand. Why do I feel this sensation; what is causing it? Could it be called forth once more? Can I call it forth – I do not know! I must know! I can feel it is important, this power, it beckons to me, but I can not answer. Not now; weakness is too apparent. I must concentrate; the basics must be learned before the advanced theories can begin…now how did I know that?_

For the remainder of the night, the being manipulating Amy Rose practised all it could remember of mortal movement; the walk was mastered after two or three hours of practice, but the most progress was made with the facial muscles and reconnecting a specific muscle combination to convey a specific meaning.

_The corners of the lips turned upwards, eyes wide and teeth showing slightly; an expression associated with feelings of joy and happiness. This is a good expression; I have done this many times before in the past, just as I have this_ – Amy pulled an exaggerated frown, the being staring into the mirror with intent eyes, scrutinising the host's face – _this is not a good expression, connected with emotions of pain and misery, sadness, yes, this had been a large part of my past, but again, the question why? What did I do, or what was done to me; why have I only now returned, and where have I returned from? I remember imprisonment, but not where I was imprisoned, or why_.

The being practised movement and walking as well as expressions of the remainder of its allotted time, pausing every so often as a rush of the strange, familiar yet distant strength flowed over the host's body; at each feeling, there was a pause and a new memory seemed to become a little clearer – the name of the happy emotion, a smile, was rediscovered, as was the movement for leaving the ground with both feet for a small amount of time. Several 'jumps' were completed vertically, the being did not yet trust itself to combine both vertical and horizontal propulsion. After a while, however, the power stopped coming forwards; the being recognised this as important, but could not recognise why. There was a slight pause for this slight sensation of loss, before the being began to concentrate on arm movements, flexing each individual finger on Amy's hands and marvelling at the freedom of movement each single digit had.

Far away from the strange, nocturnal exercises being performed by that which had been released, the Master Emerald suddenly stopped revolving and sank back down to its normal position within the shrine, the pulsing glow replaced by the normal steady green as all was undone; the great pact made long ago was sundered and the consequences had to be faced.

_I can feel a stirring within the host; she is returning to the state known as awake; I must return the host to its original position; to do otherwise would be to risk discovery and cause the host to panic. The sitting movement should be used to rest the host upon the edge of the bed – that is the name of the structure erected simply to rest upon – and then the legs should be raised and the entire body rotated to lift the legs into the foot of the bed. Swiftly, the host's mind is rising from dormancy and is rested, I must retreat before then. The cover is moved into place by the arms and the eyelids close; all is well and retreat is imminent._

Amy blinked her eyes open and yawned, stretching outright and lifting herself out of bed, never even suspecting that all through the night she had been going through a fairly vigorous routine of exercise. Behind her mind, shielded from detection by the simple act of laying low, the being rested, though it did not sleep; in the periods between gaining control of the host, the being remembered and attempted to piece together the shattered memories that had been left to it. It had been great once, but how and why remained a mystery to the unnamed possessor; however, behind all the thinking and recalling, there was as single certainty – that which had been lost could be regained; it would be great once more, it just needed time to remember how to achieve its greatness.

A/N: Possession is fun (if you've ever played any of the Abe's Oddysee – Oddworld games you should know what I'm talking about), but what will the consequences be? Will the being finally remember what it is? What awaits our favourite pair of treasure hunters? Will the night in be a success, or will Amy reduce it to another chick-flick marathon? Read on, and discover…Update soon methinks!


	11. Chapter 10 A Face in the Crowd

Chapter 10 – A Face in the Crowd.

A/N: Ohh, big and important chappie this time; it takes place solely on Angel Island but don't despair, there'll be more possession next chapter. NO MORE EXAMS – PARTY OVER HERE; I am now no longer a student! Woohoo! Before the chapter commences, just a word:

Sonicron – Master Ruby; methinks you need to read Chapter 8 once more (the stone's actually named just after Amy sees it for the first time – a tiny bit of italicised text gives it away).

Knuckles awoke slowly in the morning, registering pressure on his arm just before he attempted to move it; glancing down he realised that was a slice of luck. Rouge was sleeping quietly, back to him and resting on his arm as she dreamed whatever it was she dreamed; Knuckles felt his heart soften more as he carefully recovered his arm from under her head, trying not to wake her up. _I don't think my life would be the same if we hadn't met batgirl; I just can't imagine not knowing you now_; the guardian smiled as he rolled out from under the blanket they had shared, tucking it in closer to her as he thought about breakfast. The ashes of the fire had died down completely and were cold to the touch, though Knuckles shook himself like a hibernating bear as he realised it wasn't as cold today as it had been yesterday. It was as he examined the local flora that he suddenly paused; after a few moments of waiting excitement began to hum through his body; the temperature wasn't the only difference between today and yesterday. As this fact sank in and he felt both mingled relief and apprehension, there were signs of life from behind him.

_Hmm, hard under my ear, where am I? Knuckles…?_ Rouge blinked her eyes open and yawned, the morning sun helping her re-orientate herself as her side complained about the roughness of the earth it had been forced to rest on; she told it in no uncertain terms to shut up and buckle down – she had to learn to sleep on the ground as due to the mobile life a guardian led, she wouldn't always be able to rely on having a bed for the night. She came lightly to her feet and began stretching off her stiff muscles, cricking her neck as Knuckles, realising she'd awakened, called over,

"Morning Rouge; fancy a bite to eat?"

"Sounds good", she sauntered over to where the echidna was sat, shelling the last of the nuts she had carried in her hip pouches with gusto; she contented herself with some sweeter fruit washed down with a mouthful of water from the nearby stream. After they had finished eating, Knuckles cut straight to the chase,

"Rouge, reckon you can do a high-fly right about now?"

"I guess so", the bat extended her left wing to shake of the last niggling traces of cramp, "why?"

"Because I can't feel anything; there's no power any more".

"You serious"; _that means either something's gone wrong or it's over, the Master's done what it set out to do_; Rouge barely concealed her excitement at this fact as the echidna nodded,

"Yeah, I reckon we'll be able to get a clearer picture now; you sure you're not feeling stiff?"

"Just a little" the bat confessed; Knuckles gently buffeted her shoulder as he grinned,

"You're toughening up faster than I expected; that really was some rough turf to sleep on; I was half-expecting you to wake up rigid". The bat raised an eyebrow and sniffed derisively,

"Trust me I've done worse; I've slept for three days in something not much bigger than a cupboard before now". Knuckles chuckled as he finished his last nut and wiped his mouth,

"Pull the other one".

"I'm serious"; _she's serious_; Knuckles confirmed her truthfulness with a glance at her face; he silently asked for an explanation and she smiled victoriously, "I was on a job to cover talks between two neighbouring heads of state; there was a suspicion of some dodgy arms dealing and the government wanted to be sure everything was above board. Took place in a hotel room and I listened in from the ventilation. The talks took three days and I couldn't move much, so I just slept were I was; now that was rough".

"I can imagine – was there anything going on?"

"Sorry, that's classified information", Rouge smiled smugly as the guardian rolled his eyes, "luckily I wasn't discovered and reported back; I then booked myself in for a full-body massage and that was the end of the story. Now, let's go; I want to see as much as you do so let's get this over with". Knuckles nodded and, as he had yesterday, cupped his hands and moved into a slight crouch.

"Now!" Rouge exploded forwards and landed right on his hands, he threw her upwards with all the force he could muster and she shot up like a bottle rocket, streamlining her body to lessen wind resistance as she used all the advantage Knuckles could give her. As she felt her force begin to diminish she beat her wings rapidly, ascending quickly as she began to scan the surroundings.

_The mountains are finished, hmm, not sure if they actually class as mountains, more like pretty large hills; grassland in front of them, bit of a prairie sort of place and there's some trees growing there_; it was as she saw these trees she looked closer, reaching the zenith of her flight and beginning to glide. Unlike the rest of Angel Island she'd seen, the growth here was more, orderly; though she couldn't be sure she hazarded a guess that, rather than the complex mish-mash of flora that made up most of the jungle on Angel Island, this forest was made up of just one species of tree. _That's not natural_; a sudden suspicion itched at the back of the former spy's mind and she regarded it with equal parts confusion, acceptance and outright fear;_ it looks like it's been cultivated – but that's not right, there's no-one to…oh man!_ Rouge let her eyes flick to the lake she'd seen yesterday as a cruelly cut off basin of water and realised it was now fully formed; however, when she saw how the lake had been created and what was by the side of it, her heart damn near stopped beating entirely. Overwhelmed, her wings stopped moving for a second and she fell towards the ground.

"Rouge!" Knuckles barked in alarm as the airborne form of his girlfriend suddenly seemed to dive in the air, losing control of her flight and falling to the earth. His shout did not go unheeded; jolted back to reality by the echidna's exclamation, the shocked bat regathered enough control to take back direction of her flight, though she was still numbed by what she had seen. _But I'm not really important in this; how in the name of all that's sacred and pure am I going to break this to Knuckles without giving him a heart attack?_ Rouge thought ferociously, trying to use all of her wit and intelligence to come up with a gentle way to break the news; as the ground came ever closer though, she began to feel this was a race against time she was losing.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Knuckles wasn't sure whether he was relieved she was all right after that stupid nose-dive or angry that she'd even tried to pull off a move like that. Her back was to him as she landed and pulled her wings back to their normal place behind her shoulders. He was expecting her to come up with a smart-aleck comment about him being over-protective, that she'd known exactly what she was doing; what he did not expect was for her to remain stationary and speak with a breathless voice,

"Knuckles, there's something you need to know", she turned to face him; he narrowed his eyes as he couldn't quite make out her expression. Was she upset, relieved or just plain scared? _This could get tricky, she looks like she's had a nasty shock; what the heck could she have seen up there?_

"All right Rouge", the echidna folded his arms, his tone quiet and calm, "what did you see, and why's it so important to me?" The bat grinned and shuffled her feet; Knuckles had the impression she was actually feeling a little embarrassed about this.

"Well, while I was, you know, up there, I could, umm, see", she rested her head on her hand and gave a snort of laughter, "boy this is hard to put coherently".

"So I gathered", Knuckles smiled with expectation and spread his arms wide, "come on, hit me with it".

"You might want to sit down".

"That's for girls, no offence", he added hastily as Rouge steeled herself to pass on the news, "I'll take it, now what did you see?"

"Okay, how would you feel if", _oh God, the island getting bigger was bad, this is going to be a disaster_; she crossed her finger, bit her lip and then just went for it, "if I told you, you're probably not the last echidna alive?" She cast her eyes down and awaited the explosion that never came.

_Not, the last…there are others_; Knuckles stood still as stone as the news reached his ears; he didn't react at once, he couldn't, it was too much to take in at first. His voice was remarkable calm and level as he asked some important questions.

"Right, where, where are they?" _This isn't good, he's far too calm to be taking this properly; delayed shock maybe, it must have come as a bolt from the blue_; to conceal her own concerns as well as answer his question, she pointed towards the lake she had indicated the previous night.

"From what I saw they were mostly by the lake".

"Right", _I can't believe it, my own people, here on Angel Island_, "how many are there?" Rouge winced a little; this was the one that was really going to make or break the deal; she had to try and sugar this pill as much as possible,

"Well, I couldn't see exactly…" Knuckles cut her off quietly,

"Just give me your best guess", _I'm not going to be alone any more, and neither's Rouge_; "ten, twenty", he steeled himself as the upper limits of his estimation was reached, "a hundred?" _This is it; just hit and hope like hell_; Rouge crossed her fingers and took a deep breath,

"Maybe a hundred thousand", she dropped her gaze and finished talking before the echidna could react, "Knuckles, there's an entire city out there".

Knuckles sat down.

_What should I do_; Rouge forced herself to remain calm even as she saw the glass covering Knuckles' eyes and the way his knees had simply buckled under him – she had a very real fear that his isolated mind, so used to having one or at the very most two people on his island, had simply blanked at such a number. _I've got to say something, but what can I say_; she gave a very nervous and ironic chuckle, _they never said anything about this is training_. She was more than smart enough to know whatever was running through her mind was almost certainly small potatoes compared to the turmoil Knuckles must have been in; not only had the Master Emerald somehow made the island at least twelve times larger than it had been, it had also, just to put the icing on the cake, somehow resurrected a race Knuckles had thought had been long since extinct save for himself.

"Rouge", the bat started at the quiet voice that rumbled up at her; Knuckles regained his feet as he decided what to do next, "where is the city?"

"By the lake, over that way"; she pointed the way obediently; she decided the best thing to do was humour and appease him until she was sure that he was all right. The guardian nodded once, warmth once more spreading across his body as the numbing effect of the shock wore off minutely; running the declaration over in his head lessened the impact a little by repeated exposure.

"Well, we need to go there",_ I can see the echidnas there, see my own species for the first time_, "we can get somewhere to stay for the night and maybe someone there can tell us what's going on". Rouge nodded at this line of thinking before she saw that she could enhance it slightly,

"Wait Knucks; there's something like a plantation near the city, maybe if we go there we can meet a few people first rather than plunging in headlong".

"Good idea", the guardian rose to his feet, shock replaced by determination; he needed to find out why the Master Emerald had only now revealed his people to him and he needed to see his own species, at least one of them, just to be sure. _I know Rouge wouldn't lie about something like this, I trust her enough, but I must see it before I believe it_; Knuckles gestured forwards, Rouge following his arm with her eyes.

"Lead on Rouge; you know where we're going"; _that wasn't so bad, it could have been a lot…_; "oh, and Rouge?"

"Ye…" The rest of her words were muffled as she felt two strong arms encircle her and a pair of lips lock onto her own. Her shock was rapidly drowned out by other, stronger emotions; she kissed back fiercely, returning Knuckles' passion with as much force as she could muster as they held each other in a tight, unbreaking embrace. The kiss was primal and mutual; neither Mobian cared for anything else but the other as it endured; they could have been alone in the world and it wouldn't have mattered to either of them. Finally, however, lack of air forced them apart, both heaved in deep breaths as Knuckles smiled and spoke breathlessly, tears beginning to sparkle in his eyes,

"Thank you"; the first droplets fell as the sheer enormity of what she'd done for him sank into his mind fully, "thank you for telling me; I'm not the last any more, thank you". He broke off, unable to continue; tears with a smile as the bat hugged him tightly, unable to convey her support with words so using simple Mobian contact instead. When his tears of gratitude and joy were shed, with Rouge supporting and helping him the whole time, the guardian followed his closest friend to find the people he had never known but, in a way, had always been protecting.

Compared to yesterday, the journey to the mysterious plantation was much faster than before; with a new, insatiable driving force behind him Knuckles was tireless, striding over rises in the ground and pushing through thick bushes like they simply weren't there, holding them open for Rouge to pass through as well when she didn't fly over them. It was mostly a silent trip, occasionally punctuated by small talk about what the bat had managed to see; the rough dimensions of the city, how it appeared to be powered and other such trivia; Knuckles wanted to know as much as he could about what he was getting himself into. Rouge was almost as excited, especially as in a city as she had one major advantage over the guardian in that environment; street smarts. She wasn't a mall rat by any stretch of the imagination but she could usually find her way around by natural affiliation and the fact she had at one time owned one of the most successful clubs in Station Square; she still visited it on occasion, noting that nothing had changed bar the fact Omega, the new proprietor, had treated himself to a new, gold trimmed paint job as he had somehow increased the profits of the already famous club. As the grassland and tree clumps they were walking across began to thin out, Knuckles was gripped with a sudden thought; he stopped dead in his tracks and scratched his head in puzzlement.

"What's up?"

"I just had a thought", _this really is random, but better now than later I guess_; the echidna looked at Rouge with a calculating look on his face, "if we do meet someone in there, what am I going to say?" The bat blinked, not fully understanding if she understood what he was asking.

"Umm, hello's usually a good start".

"Well, yeah, but I mean, I've never even seen another echidna before, so, what should I say; I can't really talk to them and don't tell me to be myself", he saw the movement of her lips and raised a hand, "my record of dealing with people isn't exactly snow white". _He's got a bit of a point there actually_,

"Well, I see what you mean; from what I can gather this is their island as well, so we can't exactly throw them off", Rouge smiled as the ludicrous image of ordering an entire city's worth of echidnas off Angel Island floated through her vision, "I think the best thing we can do is just let them make the moves; just relax and take it in your stride. Now come on", the bat pointed to where the plantation was barely clear of the horizon, "if we hurry, I reckon we can make it there in time for dinner". As the trees can into view more fully, Knuckles felt his palms begin to sweat, eyes alive as he scanned the trees and the forest floor for signs of life. Rouge had been right; this wasn't a natural forest, it had been planted by someone and appeared to consist, as far as he could tell from this distance, almost entirely of hickory nut trees; it was a sort of farm. _It must be providing food for the city; so if it is a farm, there must be people working it_, his eyes swept around again and, there! He locked on to what had caught his eye like a hawk and came to a dead halt, breath stolen from him in a rush of sheer relief and resolve. It was a fair distance away and Knuckles didn't have the sharpest eyes out of the group, but there could be no mistake; in the boughs of one of the nearest trees, from the looks of things harvesting the hard hickory nuts, was a chocolate brown echidna.

"Rouge", the bat had stopped just after he had, but he didn't think she'd seen the other echidna yet; with a single hand trembling from elation, the guardian pointed, his voice a hushed whisper, "up there, in that tree". She followed his line of sight and her eyes widened,

"Is that, no, no it is", she grabbed Knuckles by the hand, almost as excited as he was, "we were right, there are echidnas; Knuckles, I'm so happy for you". He turned to her and grinned, his fist clenched in celebration; no longer was he Knuckles, the last of the echidnas, now he was Knuckles, one echidna among his own people. After a second of quiet jubilation Rouge broke the spell, giving the guardian a quick nudge and nodding at the other echidna; he still had his back to them and didn't seem to notice he was being observed.

"Well, looks like you better say hi".

"I guess", _I don't believe I'm actually going to do this_; raising his voice, the guardian called out to his tree bound counterpart, "hello, up there".

Teri-Le sighed as yet again, after all the promises of finding a different way to escape his yearly cycle of school and seasonal labour, after all the scheming and plotting with his friends, he realised he had once more ended up out here, gathering hickory nuts for the rest of the Christmas holidays to put a few more notes in his pocket. The realisation of this fact put the fifteen year old on a real downer; hanging around in a tree ten feet off the ground with a basket on one arm and a mission to pick a tree clean a day was not his idea of how to spend the holidays. _Oh well,_ Teri mused as he twisted yet another dull brown nut off its parent tree, _it's not all bad I guess; Time Spiral's on tonight, and at least tomorrow Sari-Ju'll be working with me_. The teenager smiled; so typical of Sari to get a stomach ache just as their boss decided the biggest trees were ripe for the picking. _Well, she can't stay away forever, and it's nearly lunch so…_

"Hello, up there"; _eh?_ The shout broke off Teri's line of thought and he quickly checked to the left and right of him; there was no-one else nearby and so he quickly reasoned the voice must have been shouting to him. It was when he turned around to see the source of the call that his ordinary day suddenly decided to morph into a decidedly unusual, turn-the-world-right-on-its-head kind of day. _Yipe!_

Teri wasn't exactly the beefiest echidna around, but then again he doubted even his dad would have had a patch on the red echidna who must have called him. He was five foot tall if he was an inch and even at this distance, Teri would have bet money that the red echidna's biceps were probably the size of his thighs. However, at least the caller was an echidna, that Teri could deal with; what was more unusual was the, er, the creature stood next to him. The younger echidna shut his eyes for a second, counted to three and re-opened them; yep, she was definitely real. She was also definitely a she; Teri blushed and lowered his eyes as he realised he'd been confirming this fact a little too intently, though it looked like he'd got away with it. _Just as well; her friend looks like he could turn me to pulp with one hand tied behind his back._

"Hey, you hear me?" He jerked back to reality as he realised they were waiting for an answer,

"Er, yeah".

"Good", the pair approached closer to his tree and Teri had to make a decision; go to the ground to meet them of stay up here in relative safety; he bit his lip for a second before his curiosity got the better of him and he went with option one. He shinned down the tree with ease of long practise and waited for them to come to him. _Okay, just act cool; there's bound to be a reasonable explana…_; he caught a flash of white from the otherwise red fur of the other echidna; _…shun…oh my God, he's the guardian!_

Rouge saw the other echidna descend, his natural colour blending him into the dark brown bark; she realised they'd been lucky to even see him at all. He flipped to his feet at the base of the tree and stood there as they approached; _he's not as tall as Knucks, he looks about as old as Tails_; that was fine, Rouge could deal with kids alright, though she preferred dealing with adults as a general rule. They were about twenty paces away when the other echidna looked at Knuckles; the change in his face was immediate and dramatic – his eyes went wide as saucers and both hands covered his mouth; he looked, to put it mildly, completely astonished with the other echidna. Knuckles noticed this also and found it mildly disconcerting; slowing his approach, the guardian inquired,

"Something wrong?" _Oh man, he's talking to me; stop staring, stop staring now dammit_; with a great effort of willpower Teri managed to rip his eyes from the crest on the red echidnas' chest and looked at his face; his emotions were hard to read and Teri rapidly made a decision – first impression counted, especially when you knew the other guy was a heck of a lot stronger than you, and more important to boot.

"N,nothing, nothing's wrong guardian". That got Knuckles' attention; he swapped a glance with Rouge as the bat gave a tiny shrug. She hung back a bit as he continuing his walking, not wanting to scare the smaller echidna by approaching too fast as he asked,

"How do you know me?"

"The, er, the mark", the brown echidna pointed a tentative finger at the white fur under his neck, "only guardians have that mark; they told me that in school". _Interesting, at least some of the other echidnas here will recognise me as a guardian_; nothing showed on Knuckles' face as he moved to within arms reach of the other Mobian; Teri tried his best to act casual and prevent his apprehension showing.

"Okay", Knuckles broke the silence as he eyed the kid; he wasn't as old as Knuckles himself and the guardian knew he could be a little intimidating even when he didn't mean to be, "so, what else did they tell you in school, about the guardians, I mean?" The response was a saying that had, to Teri, been said so often to him by his family and friends it was ingrained in his memory, but to Knuckles came as something of a pleasant surprise.

"To every generation a guardian is born; those with the mark are destined to wander in the wilds and guard that which is both blessing and curse"; _right, I'm stood here in touching distance of the guardian reciting that old tale; this just can't get weirder_…

"Looks like they nailed it pretty well there Knucks"; _…me and my big mouth_; in awe of the guardian, Teri had almost forgotten his, umm, friend? Now that he had a closer look he realised she was both athletic and attractive, though he didn't dare look too long. At this distance he could see that, though not as obvious as the guardian, she was strong in her own way; he hadn't seen legs like that on anyone else, not even his P.E. teacher Ms. Ru. The strange creature approached and smiled at the guardian; Teri wondered if they'd notice him slipping off. He was just about to try when the guardian turned to him again.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself", he extended a paw that would have swallowed Teri's hand and about half his forearm, "name's Knuckles, or Knucks for short".

"Teri, Teri-Le"; _well, at least I know his name_; the teenager extended his smaller hand and shook, smiled shyly as he realised where the guardian had acquired his name, "I see, you're a spike".

"Huh?" Knuckles, and Rouge as well though Teri didn't see her expression, looked perplexed; he was a what now?

"What's a spike?" _Oh, he doesn't know, rats_.

"Spike, just means you've got those", Teri pointed to the spurs on Knuckles' hands as the red furred echidna saw that the younger Mobian's hands were smooth, unpunctuated by the naked bone weapons.

"Is that unusual?"

"Not really", Teri began to feel more at ease with the situation, though it was still strange to him and he really wanted to know who 'she' was, "only about one in four, maybe five, echidnas have them, and then only the guys; kind of a genetic thing". Knuckles gave a gruff snort of laughter,

"Biology was never my strong point".

"Something we've got in common then". At this point, Rouge decided to take a hand in proceeding; she'd notice the curious glances Teri had been sending her way and wanted to know why he though of her so strangely.

"Not the only thing I can assure you", she offered a hand, smiling without revealing her fangs as Teri smiled shyly and shook gently, thinking about how he could even remotely politely, "I'm Rouge, a friend of Knuckles". _Lucky Knuckles_; Teri hid his smile at the last second before taking the plunge,

"Umm, okay, Ms Rouge…"

"Just Rouge thank you", the bat shuddered at the dreaded M-word, "I don't do Miss".

"Right, Rouge, ah, sorry if this sounds a bit, er rude, but, what are you?"

Before either of the older Mobians could respond to this, in their eyes, baffling question, Teri tried to sugar the pill with a little wit and a compliment at the same time,

"Apart from fit and extremely good-looking I mean", he recovered a little confidence as he saw the strange creature smile, "I'm sorry but, I've just never seen anyone like you".

"You've never seen a bat before?" _This could be interesting_.

"No, sorry", Teri gave an apologetic shake of the head, filing the information away in case he ever needed to use it again as Knuckles cut in curiously,

"What about hedgehogs, or foxes?" He became slightly alarmed as the brown echidna simply shook his head to all of them, the ponytail that bound his hair swaying from the motion.

"Nope, never met anyone but another echidna before now; why, what do they look like, these hedgehogs and foxes, I mean?" Knuckles flicked Rouge a glance and saw her give a miniscule shake of the head; this wasn't the time to chat about species other than echidnas to someone who'd never seen any of them.

"Can we tell you some other time – we need to get to the city nearby and sort of, set a few things straight. Can you help us?"

"You want to go to Echidnopolis; the city", Teri hastily added as he saw the looks of confusion of the faces of the other two; inwardly he wondered, if the guardian protected the island like the stories and history lessons said, how he didn't know what the main city was called, "I can point the way, but I'm at work here; I know", he snapped his fingers as Knuckles and Rouge listened in, "it's time for my lunch break, so I can ask the boss; she'll help sort you out. You wait here, I'll go fetch her".

"Sounds like a plan", Knuckles smiled at the younger echidna, "we're not going anywhere". Teri nodded and made to set off before remembering something important; frowning, he looked back up at the tree he was working in.

"Just a sec, let me get my basket".

"Allow me"; Rouge jumped into the air and shot up to the top of the tree like a missile by running up the bark. The pitted wood gave her an easy grip and it was only eight or nine feet up, an easy run for someone as well trained as the former spy. Without pausing, she snatched the basket by the handle and lowering herself to the floor with her wings, landing without dropping a single nut. She offered the basket to Teri, smirking gently as his mouth hung open in sheer disbelief of what he'd just seen. The bat remembered something Vanilla had come up with earlier and smiled,

"What's up, tonsillitis?" _She is amazing, I can't believe she just did that_.

"Thanks", Teri took the offered basket and shook himself, realising he was making a spectacle of himself, "er, sorry, wait for me". He turned and walked off into the plantation, still wondering who upstairs was having a laugh with him as he realised just how absurd this was; he was out here with the guardian and a bat woman who seemed to be able to do gymnastic acts that he'd only ever seen on video. As he walked to go and find his employer, a single thought echoed in the young echidna's mind; _since when did strange things ever happen to me?_

A short while later, Rouge's keen ears picked up two pairs of footsteps heading their way; one was heavier than the other and she assumed that was the boss while the lighter tread should be Teri. She gave Knuckles a knock and the pair stood as Teri reappeared from the tree line, an older female echidna in tow.

"Here Mrs Ka", the teenager guided the older, honey-coloured echidna towards the guardian and his partner, "Knuckles, Rouge, this is Hele-Ka, my boss and owner of this plantation". The elder echidna nodded at the pair as they chorused a greeting, her dappled green eyes lingering for a second on Knuckle's chest for a second before she spoke,

"Greeting guardian, and you Rouge", she nodded at the bat, who smiled back uncertainly; suddenly it was her who was the stranger in this new world rather than Knuckles, "well, I'll confess when Teri came in saying the guardian wanted to speak to me I had my doubts but it looks like we can all make mistakes", she smiled, darting her eyes sideways as though daring the brown echidna to start celebrating under her nose, "so, what do you need?"

"All we really want is to get to the main city, Echidnopolis, is that right?" at Hele's nod, Knuckles continued, "we just want, er"; _I can't tell them about the Master – from what I can tell they don't know about it_, "somewhere to stay for the night, and to just have a look around. All we need are directions and a map if you've got one". Hele smiled and Rouge, more used to noticing flickers of emotion than anyone else present, saw humour dance in her eyes just before she spoke,

"I've got something better than a map, I've got a guide; Teri, take the day off".

"Huh?" The chocolate echidna looked at her disbelievingly, barely hoping to dare that hadn't just been a figment of his imagination, "you serious?"

"Yes; take these two into Echidnopolis and make sure they get a decent bed for the night and", Knuckles curled his fists as he realised Hele-Ka was examining his hands, "better send him to Remington as well".

"Who's Remington?" Rouge asked,

"Head of the EST", Teri answered easily, temporarily forgetting that Rouge and Knuckles wouldn't have the foggiest idea what EST stood for, "the head honcho of law and order; oh, EST means Echidnopolis Security Team" he explained after catching the bat's nonplussed expression.

"Why do I need to see him?" _Just my luck, been here three hours and already broken the law_; the reply actually surprised the guardian, but when he thought about it made a lot of sense,

"It's your spurs; all echidnas with spurs have to register with the EST. They're classed as weapons you see – helps keep tabs on who's more dangerous in a fist fight and things like that". Hele-Ka explained the situation, smiling as she remembered taking her own son to be registered just after he'd had his first birthday, the tiny knobs of bone just beginning to become sharpened under the effects of ageing. As she reminisced, Teri gestured to his two companions and began to lead them towards the city of Echidnopolis.

"See you tomorrow Mrs Ka". Caught off guard, the elder echidna didn't have time to reply before he'd high-tailed out of sight. _Sneaky Teri_; she pursed her lips;_ guess who's getting pruning duties tomorrow_.

"Thanks you two", Teri stretched languidly as he walked, "that's a first".

"A first what?" Rouge chuckled as she asked; she was beginning to like the youth in front of her; a bit shy and rough around the edges, but still a nice enough guy.

"First time I've got off work early without being ill", the chocolate echidna smiled as Knuckles, realising that for the moment the three of them were alone, decided to ask a couple of questions about both the nature of the city and the individual leading them there.

"You worked there long?"

"Nah, just seasonal; need a bit of cash after Christmas and working the plantations like that's the easiest way to do it. Once the new term starts I'll be back behind the desk again".

"Don't like school I take it?"

"Does anyone?" Teri turned to answer the bat as she smiled broadly; he was becoming more popular with her by the minute, "nah, some of it's okay, but I need decent grades if I want to get into the EST like my dad".

"He works for them?"

"Yeah, I want to do a similar job but I'll have to hack the training first", the younger echidna snorted and tried to flex his arms, pointing at Knuckles, "need to put on a bit of muscle first; how'd you manage it?"

"Try living in the wild for about fifteen years", the older echidna answered dryly as Teri looked wide-eyed,

"Seriously?" Knuckles nodded, "think I'll stick to the gym thanks". As they cleared the plantation, it occurred to Rouge that something was missing.

"How did you get to work?" _I can't see anything like a bike or a car; he didn't glide here did he?_

"Same way I'm gonna get back now; we're walking". Knuckles shrugged,

"Suits me".

"Me too", _I wonder_, "so, there are no cars or anything like that in your city?"

"Some people have hover-vehicles; one of the reasons I'm at work is to save up for a hover-bike", Teri sighed longingly as Rouge beckoned Knuckles closer behind his back; when she was sure he wasn't listening, the bat whispered,

"That's good; there's not as much chance of anyone driving to the shrine by accident". _Never even thought of that; nice one batgirl_; Knuckles raised his eyebrows and whispered back,

"You'll be a guardian yet Rouge", raising his voice the red echidna spoke again, "how many echidnas are there, roughly?" Teri shrugged and blew out slowly,

"Your guess is about as good as mine, but if anyone would know it'd be the EST; they should be able to fill you in. Hey wait", Knuckles saw his eyes brighten and tensed slightly, expecting a question about the nature of his work and prepared to deflect it.

"You live out in the wilds don't you, as a guardian I mean?"

"Yes?" _Here we go…_

"What's it like out there?"

That threw Knuckles for a loop; from the sound of it, Teri was making out that he'd never been out there, out in the open spaces of Angel Island; that was something Knuckles couldn't imagine. He tried though for the kid's sake,

"What, er, what do you mean Teri?" The younger echidna stopped for a second and looked up at him; there was a desire, a thirst in his look that spoke volumes,

"I've never been further than the edge of the reservoir; everyone says the rest of the island is wild and untamed, even dangerous, so we can't go any further that that really. Maybe it's true; some echidna exploratory teams have gone out there and never returned, or so they say. But I still want to see it, even if it is just a kid's dream". Knuckles was caught here, he saw that now; to tell him that the island wasn't dangerous was closer to the truth, but if he did that he could cause an explosion of migrating echidnas, one of which might stumble onto the Master by accident. On the other hand, it wasn't like him to lie outright, especially not to a younger Mobian like Teri. Fortunately for him, it was Rouge to the rescue,

"It's no great shakes really Teri", the bat shrugged as the younger echidna greedily devoured her words, "some parts of it are really dangerous, but it's just like this otherwise".

"Really?"

"Really", the bat confirmed before skilfully stopping his line of thought with a question of her own, "that reminded me actually, you said the reservoir, is that the lake near the city?"

"Yeah, the Silver Sea".

"Right, sorry, I saw the place from the air a long way away, couldn't see clearly but I though it looked like a dam".

"Yeah it is", Teri smiled and, to Knuckles' relief, didn't press on with the questions about the rest of Angel Island, "provides us with our water, power and most of the food as well". Rouge raised an eyebrow, understanding this perhaps a little better than Knuckles.

"Water and power I can understand, food?"

"Fish and clams; one of the reasons I love summer", the echidna licked his lips as he tasted his favourite dish again, "diving for clams in the holidays, then eating them later with chips and nuts. The dam's hydro-electric too, gives us ninety-six percent of the power we use, clean and cheap". Knuckles just had to ask,

"The other four percent?"

"Water-based fission, it's what powers the hover-cars and stuff".

"Ah" was the only reply Knuckles could come up with as, in the distance, the first few buildings of Echidnopolis rose up into view.

_Compared to Station Square_; as was her way, Rouge quickly analysed the scene in front of her a short while later, _this is actually pretty small. Just seems to have a bit more parkland and_, she whistled as she was the crowd in front of her, _a lot more echidnas_. Knuckles was stood to the side of her, gawping at the milling crowd he could see in front of him. He had logically taken on board the fact that there was a city full of echidnas, but only now, only when he could see it with his eyes and hear it with his ears, did the full emotional impact finally crash down on him.

The scene in front of him was alive with echidnas of all different shapes, sizes, appearances and fashion senses. From this tiny snap-shot, he could see that fur colour ranged from an almost white pale blonde to a storm-cloud grey, that hair differed from being bound in dreadlocks as his was to being completely wild, though this was, admittedly, rare. Clothes ranged from just shoes and gloves like his to elegant, smart heeled business suits worn by important looking echidnas and some of the people near them.

"Well, this is it, home sweet home", Teri smiled as he tried to usher the pair forwards; he stopped as he saw the look of utter blankness on the guardian's face, "you alright there K-man?" It took a few seconds for the guardian to reply; he was busy immersing himself in the sea of echidnas he could see looming up ahead

"Teri", the younger echidna leant in to hear the guardian's whisper, "what would you say if I told you that you were the first echidna I had ever seen?" _What! No, that's just not possible, even if he lived outside a lot_; in all honesty, he wasn't sure what to think,

"I'd say you were joking", Knuckles' expression didn't change, "or failing that, I'd hope this was just some kind of joke".

"No joke" Rouge interjected gravely, "he's telling the truth; he's never been here before".

"But, but, why in the name of the council not?"

"Because he's never needed to", Rouge leant down, thinking fast as Knuckles overcame his shock and began to think clearly again, "we're only here to meet someone".

"Right, gotcha", the brown echidna gave a sly wink and straightened up; if it was guardian business it had to be important, "right, well, before I introduce you to the EST HQ, what say we get a bite to eat?"

"But…?"

"Tell it to the judge", Teri cut Knuckles off with one hand raised and a smile, "I said I'd get you registered today, but I never said when did I?" _Slick move_; Rouge patted the echidna on the shoulder and chuckled,

"Now that's called smart moves; so, where's the local restaurant?"

"Follow me".

There was a sharp, crisp cling as the door rattled open again; ducking his head out from the kitchen, Nate-Fy saw the familiar face of one of his most frequent visitors pull up a seat at his favourite table, casually glancing at the menu he could recite from memory. Just as the owner of the Fy-Café wiped his hands on a nearby cloth, the bell rang again and two other figures entered; a hulking bruiser of an echidna and, Nate squinted and blinked, an extremely attractive woman who looked like nothing else he'd ever seen. Still, as the pair sat down next to Teri, he guessed they had to be straight shooters. Fishing the remnants of a notepad from his apron pouch and the nub of a pencil from behind his left ear, the café proprietor sauntered towards the table,

"Hey Teri, ain't you at work today?" The younger echidna offered a hand that Nate slapped in the time-honoured greeting before answering,

"Well, I was, but then the boss had me run a special errand, involving the K-man over there"; Knuckles chuckled at this seeming nickname and, seeing as the other echidna, Nate, seemed to be looking over at him, sat back in his chair; the guardian had become used to the sudden reaction to his crest, though to his eternal relief, once most of the echidnas on the street had realised they were staring they looked away and resumed walking or talking to their friends. Nate was no exception,

"Well, well, looks like your keeping different company these days Teri", the violet echidna made to ask for an order, "what can I get you folks?"

"Umm, I think I'll just have a coffee, white with six sugars please".

"Six", Nate looked over as Rouge nodded demurely, "sweet tooth?"

"Sweet nature" she assured him as Teri and Knuckles shared a glance and fought to keep from smiling. Knuckles ordered himself a plain water and Teri took his usual cream soda drink and a scone as well. As Nate left to fill the order Knuckles realised something and leant over to Rouge desperately,

"Rouge, how are we going to pay?" _That's easy, I always keep plastic handy and…ah, that's a problem_; he saw the realisation flood her eyes and smiled grimly, "I don't think they take our kind of cash".

"That was a dumb thing to do" she agreed before their newest recruit to the cause cleared his throat.

"I think that's where I come in"; _good old dad, always getting me to keep a ten spare_, "I can cover it".

"As soon as we can we'll pay you back" Knuckles assured him; the younger echidna shrugged as Nate returned with their combined order, plus an extra tea. As he handed the drinks round he pulled over a seat for himself, span it around and straddled it, resting his chin on the top of the painted metal of the chair top. Teri didn't bat an eyelid, long since inured to the fact that Nate couldn't sit on a chair normally if his life depended on it, though Knuckles raised a curious eyebrow.

"Is that comfortable?"

"Works for me", Nate assured him before turning to the Mobian next to him, "sorry dear, never got your name". The bat smiled, inwardly reflecting the unmeant invasion of privacy as the echidna, like most of the others that had seen her, took a decent eyeful to catalogue away in his memory.

"Rouge, Rouge the Bat".

"Rouge", he repeated, rolling the name over his tongue like a malteaser, "suits you; so, how do you, and you guardian…"

"Name's Knuckles"

"Sorry, how did you and Knuckles get tangled up with this delinquent?" He snarled over at Teri good-naturedly, the younger echidna doing his best to ignore him but failing as the tiniest hint of a smile touched the corner of his mouth. Rouge rolled her eyes as she waited for her coffee to cool a little.

"We were near the plantations, looking to get into Echidnopolis and we saw his shinning up in a tree, harvesting nuts…" Nate laughed out loud as Teri groaned; _he's going to have a field day out of this_.

"So, after all that talk and pomp, you ended up out there anyway?"

"Yeah, needs must and all that", the younger echidna admitted as Nate gave him a gentle shove, relishing the act that he'd managed to chalk up a win on his bantering rival,

"Don't sweat it, we've all been there", he chuckled as Teri's fur couldn't quite hide the fact his face had gone a little pinker, "sorry Rouge, carry on; just got a little side-tracked there". After a second's pause, the bat continued her story,

"Well, we talk to him for a bit, then he says it's his lunch break and he goes to get the boss to sort us out", Nate shivered as he remembered the same matriarch who ruled that plantation with an iron fist, "so Mrs Ka shows up and gives Teri the day off to lead us here; apparently we're heading for the EST HQ to see Remington and register Knucks as a spike". Nate glanced down to se the spurs on the guardian's fists and nodded sagely,

"Nice idea".

"Aren't you proud?" Teri was beaming and Nate had a sneaking suspicion why; he hated to be the one to burst his bubble but it was going to happen,

"You getting a day off", the smile grew ever wider, "good for you; enjoy it while you can because you'll hate tomorrow". _Uh oh, he knows something I don't_; Teri felt twinges of subtle fear as he swallowed nervously,

"And why's that?" _He's going to hate life in a minute_; Nate smiled as Knuckles watched the verbal banter enthralled and Rouge sipped her coffee,

"Because I know what Hele-Ka does to people who sneak days off like that", he raised his mug as though it was a toast to the fallen, "your on pruning duty tomorrow".

"NOOOOO!" Teri covered his face with both hands as Knuckles, not quite sure he was catching this right, asked,

"Pruning duty?"

"Trimming the hickory bushes to makes sure they'll fruit well next year", Nate explained as Teri mourned his loss, "imagine crawling around in the top of a tree using a hacksaw to cut through branches thick as your arm all day; that's pruning duty". _Easier than doing the same thing with just your spurs_; tempting as it was to point this out Knuckles kept his peace as Rouge commiserated with the echidna boy.

"Look at this way, it'll help you build up those muscles you need", Teri glowered at her as she swigged back the last of her coffee to hide her smile, "but now, we better get to this Remington fellow and sort this spur business out". Nate seemed to agree with the bat as she placed her empty mug on the table,

"Good idea; sooner it's done less chance there is of getting caught out", the older echidna chuckled as he started collecting the empties, "never saw I'd see a spiked guardian. Come to think of it, never thought I'd see the guardian period".

"You and about a couple thousand others", Knuckles admitted as Teri slipped his note into the back of the café owner's apron strings, "I wouldn't be surprised if half the city knows about me, and Rouge for that matter, now". Nate held the note up to the light as he answered,

"I would", he ran the till, "news travels fast around this city; I'd be surprised if the whole city wasn't aware of it now".

Unknown to the quartet currently in the Fy-Café, Nate's prediction was actually fairly accurate; Echidnopolis was virtually buzzing with the news that the legendary guardian had arrived and had brought a strange creature called a bat in his wake. However, some ears were much more receptive to this news than others; though not aware of it, Knuckles was now being hunted.

As the sun began to set lower in the sky and the first hint of dusk began to creep down over the sky, Teri came to halt and pointed at the building in front of him, the white stonework above the glass doors bearing a crest of several echidnas gathered around a stone table, the words emblazoned beneath reading Justice, Courage and Honour – the three pillars of the EST ideal and the society it helped to protect from lawlessness. Rouge whistled in appreciation; she'd been in her share of law informant premises in her time and this four storey building ranked as a pretty high class place.

"Well, this is it; the EST headquarters", Teri gestured to the front glass door of the station, "go to the desk and ask for Remington, he should be there unless there's a high profile case on". Knuckles looked down at the chocolate echidna and smiled; Teri had proven to be a useful and helpful ally; the guardian made a note to mention this to Remington, whoever he turned out to be.

"Right, thanks a lot for all your help Teri", he offered a paw, "hope tomorrow goes alright".

"I'll survive"; with this assurance the future cadet for the EST shook with the guardian, "oh, if you see an echidna called Tera-Le, that's my dad". Rouge knelt to see into the younger Mobian's eyes and smiled,

"I'll keep it in mind, thanks a lot Teri" she gently hugged the younger echidna before releasing him; Teri smiled shyly before offering a last goodbye and then melting back into the crowd, heading for home as Rouge stood up again.

"Nice kid; we'll have to see him again sometime".

"I agree, now come on, let's get this over with", Knuckle jerked his thumb towards the front of the white building, "I'm getting a little curious to meet this Remington after everything that's been said about him".

There was a static crackle as the radio on his desk fizzed into life,

"Constable Remington sir". Sighing, the head of the EST folded away the newspaper he was reading and quickly slipped it into one of his desk drawers along with his favourite brand of chewing gum; _typical, just when I get to the crossword puzzle_; the echidna leant forwards and pressed the transmit button on the desktop,

"I'm here Yesa, what is it?"

"Umm, the guardian's here to see you sir". Now Remington was one of the most experienced professionals within the Echidnopolis Security Team and any of his subordinates would have gladly said it took a lot to throw him off his stride. That declaration by the desk officer managed to accomplish that seemingly impossible feat with ease, however,

"R,right"; _the guardian, here_; "well, um, okay, send him up".

"He has someone with him sir".

"Send them too".

"Right sir". The connection cut off as Remington sat back in his chair, stunned by what he'd just said and agreed to do; he was going to meet the guardian in person. The stupefaction, however, was short-lived; Remington hadn't done as well as he had by letting the unexpected phase him, so he quickly sat back in his chair and arranged the papers on his desk to give an impression of orderliness, then simply sat back and waited. He didn't have to wait long – there was a knock on the solid oak door that connected his office to the corridor outside. Remington smiled as he heard that knock; it was loud, clanging and reverberated around the office – a strong knock with plenty of authority behind it. You could tell a lot from an echidna by the way he knocked on your door and the guardian, if that was him knocking, seemed to be the kind of guy Remington could get along with. Best not to keep him waiting though,

"Come in". The handle clicked down and the door was opened slowly, Remington rising from his padded seat to greet the guardian at the same time as look him up and down.

His first impression was of a fighter, the common type of thug that he and the rest of the EST dealt with every day to keep violence off the streets. _He's certainly got the build for it_; Remington let a glimmer of respect into his icy blue eyes as he regarded the power in the other echidna's arms and legs. It certainly was the guardian, he had the crest, but was when he looked into the lilac eyes framed by the heavy, brooding brows that he realised he'd been pre-emptive in pigeon-holing the guardian. Unlike the lust for violence he normally saw in the street gangs, these eyes, while hard and determined, spoke of the ability to understand and reason with someone, at least to some degree. When he was done with his precursory inspection, and he realised the guardian was through with his, he made the first move,

"Good afternoon guardian, how can I help you?"

"Well first, you can call me Knuckles", the red-furred echidna strode across the room towards where the coppery form of Remington was standing; it was only then that he noticed the other figure that followed him, "and then you can tell me how to register as a spike".

"Right, Knuckles then", Remington nodded to the other Mobian, taking in her obvious beauty with a small but appraising glance, "and you?"

"Rouge, Rouge the Bat"; _he seems alright, at least he didn't stare like some of the others_, rouge pulled up a seat alongside Knuckles and sat down as Remington took visual conformation that Knuckles did indeed have spurs.

"Right, okay", he ran a hand across his narrow chin as he though of the best way to do this, "well, firstly as head of the EST I'd like to welcome you and Rouge to Echidnopolis; staying for long?"

"Not sure yet" Knuckles admitted, wanting to get this out of the way and get back to his main reason for coming here; trying to find out why this place had reappeared attached to the edge of his island at the whim of the Master Emerald.

"Sorry Constable, but we're in a bit of a hurry; we just want to get Knuckles registered and then be on our way" Rouge cut in, recognising from his body language that Knuckles wanted this over quickly. Remington seemed to sense this as well and stood up, speaking directly to the guardian himself,

"Right, if you'd like to come with me, I'll take you down to the registrations office; they'll check you out and put it down in the records. Should take about ten minutes maximum; if you'd like to wait here?"

"No problem" Rouge assured him, trying to act cool at the same time as keep a smile off her face; taking this as consent, Remington gestured to Knuckles and the two echidna slipped silently out the door.

_Now I find myself in an unusual situation_; Rouge lifted herself out the chair almost before the door had swung to, smile now in full bloom over her face as she ran her tongue over her teeth; _the master spy free in the chief constable's room_; she slipped behind Remington's desk; _let's see if there's anything in here to keep me amused._

Meanwhile, Knuckles was led to a small section of the HQ, away from Remington's office, down a long, narrow corridor that terminated in the door panelled 'Registration Office'.

"Subtle" he remarked as Remington Knocked; the copper coloured echidna smiled sardonically,

"Necessary; we've had too many try and slip the net by saying they couldn't find the office; ah, hey Dles-Za – another one to spike profile".

"Really?" the answering voice was female and very soft, Knuckles had to really strain to hear it, "well, come on in then, er?"

"Knuckles". He noticed she caught a glimpse of his crest but her gaze lingered for only a second; she looked at his hands more, especially the spurs she would soon work on. Her eyes were hazel, though her left eye listed unnaturally; Knuckles had the impression she couldn't see from it very well, if at all.

"Well, in you come Knuckles; take your gloves off – don't worry, I've seen it all before – and we'll get started". Remington waited outside as the guardian stepped into the office the female occupied. The room was fairly small and compact; there just appeared to be Dles working her at the moment; she picked up a clipboard and a tape measure and pointed to a bare piece of surgical table.

"Place your hands there please"; feeling awkward without his gloves on, Knuckles nonetheless complied and stood still as Dles used the tape to measure the length and depth of each spur individually, noting the results on her clipboard with scientific precision.

"Unusually deep".

"Sorry?" Dles tapped one of the bare weapons with the end of her pen, the resultant noise setting the guardian's teeth on edge,

"You spurs, unusually deep, nearly a third of an inch deeper than normal; make it easy to identify if we ever need to". _Identify, how_; Knuckles was driven by a desire to understand more of how the system here worked,

"How can you identify me by my spurs?" The female smiled, her lighter red fur highlighted by the light from overhead,

"If you hit someone with a spur, we'll be able to examine the wound and get an idea of the weapon; with a spur you can tell who did it by the shape of the wound it leaves".

"Makes sense", Knuckles agreed; that seemed like a reasonable idea to the guardian; he'd used his spurs enough to know that hitting someone with them could easily lead to a fatality; he returned to the present when she reappeared with a board of what looked like plasticine.

"Press into this please; we'll make a plaster cast of your spurs from the indent" she explained as Knuckles raised an eyebrow. He did so, leaving four parallel dents in the plastic where his barbs easily slid through the soft material. Satisfied with the sample, the scientist turned to Knuckles.

"Now normally I'd get you to fill in a form, but I don't think that applies here; I'll just label it guardian and be done with it. Well Mr Echidna, you're free to go".

"Thanks"; Knuckles let himself out the door, nodding to Dles in respect as she smiled, her left eye reflecting the ceiling light unnaturally as he found Constable Remington waiting by the door.

"Go okay?"

"Fine, now I need to get Rouge and find a place to stay this evening".

"With respect guardian", Knuckles stopped short of reprimanding Remington when he saw the look in the copper fur's eyes, "there's a few details I need to go through with you, but they shouldn't take long. Now, back to my office".

Rouge was waiting right where they had left her; that set the alarm bells ringing in Knuckles' mind. In all the time he'd known her, he'd never remembered the bat being able to sit still unsupervised, it just wasn't her nature. Fortunately, Remington was as brief as he promised; he opened one of the stainless steel cabinets behind his desk and rifled through it, stopping with a small ah as he found what he needed to.

"Here you are Knuckles", he handed the guardian a small plastic card, "this will let you access your funds".

"I have funds?" _News to me_; Remington seemed to realise this coming as a shock so he leant forwards and smiled sharkily,

"You do in Echidnopolis; apparently all the guardians have had down the years but never really used them. Now, you wanted a place for the night, well", the constable scribbled a note down on one of his desk's plentiful supply of post-it notes, "I suggest you go here". He tore off the note and offered it to Rouge; the bat tucking it into a pocket of her jumpsuit.

"Thanks, we'll keep in touch". Remington nodded, the ice in his eyes thawed by a fledgling respect for the guardian and his apparent partner.

"Glad to here it; well, unless there's anything else?"

"No thanks, that's all", Rouge stood up, her action echoed by Knuckles as the meeting drew to a close, "thanks for the help".

"My pleasure, know the way out?"

"We'll manage". Remington nodded and ushered the pair out of his office and closed the door behind them, alone once more in his own private sanctuary.

"Well, that was okay".

"What did they do?"

"Just measured my spurs and took something called an indent".

"Really, I remember my dentist doing the same thing once, that was horrible. Gum?"

"Thanks. Hey, where'd you get this?"

"I don't think you want to know".

"I'll trust to that. Umm, spearmint".

_Finally_; a slow smile edged across Remington's face as he reached down to his drawer and extracted the paper he'd been reading earlier; _just me, a pen and my crossword_. This, in his eyes, was the best bit of the day; he thumbed through the pages eagerly and reached for a black pen when he suddenly stopped, numbed by disbelief as he let the pages fall open. Every single line of the puzzle had been completed and, he checked after a few seconds, each line was correct too. It was only then he noticed the writing under the last clue for the down column: _Thanks for the gum – crosswords are alright, but have you ever tried Suduko? LOL, RtB X._ Remington sat back in his chair, realising that two of his sticks of gum were missing at the same time as he translated RtB into Rouge the Bat. _Damn_; he chortled despite himself as he realised he'd been done like a steak dinner; _we were only gone ten minutes._

"What are you grinning about?"

"Oh, nothing".

A/N: Ah the guilty pleasures of getting one over on law enforcement (in a nice way, you understand). The characters Teri-Le, Nate-Fy (pronounced Fay) and Dles-Za are mine, but I won't quibble if anyone uses them; that'll only happen if Seraph is used without permission and woe betide anyone then – I'll set the being on them (more to come from him later :-)).


	12. Chapter 11 Alone No More

Chapter 11 – Alone No More.

A/N: Once more as always, I live to thank my reviewers:

HHH – Hope the ear infection's clearing up; I've had them before and I know they sting like living death. Glad you enjoyed the last chapter; I was hoping I'd get Echidnopolis right.

Following the note Remington had left them and asking for directions a few times eventually led both Mobians to a posh-looking apartment block, the whitewashed stone so prevalent in the city reflecting the sunset in a multitude of rose-tinted hues that played and danced along the front of the building in an intricate dance of fire. Knuckles, unused to such outwards finery, was looking at this hotel in awe, checking the paper in his hand as though confirming that, yes, this was the place Remington had selected for him, while Rouge was rather more inured to such sights; her previous employment had involved a lot of travel and, though she could slum it with the best of them, she generally preferred higher classes of accommodation. _Still, appearances can be deceiving; it's the inside that counts_; Rouge looked over as Knuckles shook his head,

"Not a chance", he smiled wistfully as Rouge raised an eyebrow, "there's no way I can afford something like this". Rouge steepled her fingers before looking around; almost instantly she saw what she was looking for,

"Well Remington said you had funds", she pointed at a short queue of echidnas waiting at a spot opposite the hotel, "you better check now much you've got; he wouldn't have told you to go somewhere you couldn't afford right?" _Makes sense_;

"Sure, can't hurt to find out; this is the first time I've ever had much of my own money"; Knuckles smiled as he palmed his card from inside his glove, crossing the road and joining the end of the queue as Rouge waited where she was, giving him some privacy.

Though he wouldn't have admitted it, Knuckles was actually looking forwards to this; for the first time he was financially independent. In the few times he'd had to go to Station Square it had been Rouge who had footed the bill for most of their purchases; one of the reasons he never really brought much when he was in town – he hated feeling indebted when he knew there was next to no chance of him paying off his debt. _Still, with this I might be able to spend a bit to even the score_; the last echidna in front of him, an elderly powder-blue male wearing a thick white jumper as insulation against the cold, turned away from machine that dispensed the cash, looked at Knuckles, looked again at Knuckles' crest, nodded approvingly and wandered out the way politely; returning the nod, the guardian approached the hole in the wall. Reading the instructions carefully but quickly, he gently pushed his card into the required slot, waited a couple of seconds and, as his options were displayed on the screen, touched the screen at the banner where it said 'Display Balance'. After a couple of seconds, a day already totally out of the ordinary suddenly became even more bizarre; apparently, his fund was a mite more than he had expected. _Looks like it's my turn to pay for Rouge…_

The bat watched on as Knuckles checked both ways, though it was largely irrelevant as compared to Station Square the traffic here was as light as a butterfly, and crossed the road back to her. She smiled as she saw from his face that he had been convinced he could afford it,

"Go okay?" He smiled back and offered his arm.

"Sure, shall we?" She put a hand on the burly rope of his left tricep and nodded demurely,

"Sure your wallet can take it?" _Trust me you have no idea_; the echidna kept his face blank as he affirmed this fact with a thumbs-up, "okay then, lead on". Facing away from her and beaming secretly, Knuckles preceded the bat into the lobby of the hotel, quickly realising the front desk was at the moment deserted and moving to take advantage. He tapped gently on the desk as the receptionist; he caught the name Ulse-Ni on her tag, swept her eyes up to meet him and smiled,

"Good afternoon, welcome to The Promenade; how may I help you", she stopped short just long enough to let Knuckles think the greeting was finished before adding, "Guardian?" _That's something I could begin to hate_;

"Call me Knuckles"; he waited for her to nod before continuing, "I need a room for two please". She flicked through her register quickly; she was sure there had been a vacancy earlier but couldn't remember if it had been filled in that time or not – for the guardian's sake she hoped not.

"Ah, you're in luck", she kept her finger on the page as she smiled back up at the handsome face of the male echidna, "we've got a vacancy, but it's in the top class rooms, is that okay?"

"That's perfect thanks".

"Good", she opened the register again and clicked her pen open, "names please?"

"Rouge the Bat and Knuckles Echidna"; Ulse looked up to see immediately who Rouge was but dropped her eyes quickly, concentrating on her work,

"How long will you want the room for?" _Best to be on the safe side here_; Knuckles reasoned quickly that it was better to over than under-estimate the length of their stay,

"Say three days".

"Okay, that's four-hundred and seventeen please". Knuckles counted some money out of the roll of bills he had hidden in his glove, noticing as he did that, unlike the currency of the world below, there was actually no name on the crisp paper money. As he handed over his money, the echidna briefly wondered why; that was something else he'd have to find out while he was here. Ulse handed him the change and a key,

"Room Forty-nine V, third floor, second on the right. Hope you have a pleasant stay".

"I'm certain I will" he assured her as he held the small key and the other person with him, Rouge the receptionist reminded herself, joined him,

"Ready Knucks?"

"Yep, all sorted", he smiled back at Ulse just before he headed for the stairs with his friend, "thanks for the help".

"My pleasure"; _in more ways than one I can assure you_; she leant back in her chair to catch a glimpse of his behind as he left up the stairs; _meow!_

The stairs were nothing to two Mobians as fit as the pair of guardians; not a minute after he'd finished talking to Ulse-Ni Knuckles was unlocking the door to his new apartment. Pushing the door open, the echidna stepped back respectfully and bowed, a playful smile on his face,

"Well, ladies first".

"Since when was I a lady in your eyes?" Knuckles couldn't hold back a chuckle at the snappy comeback, chiding himself gently as he realised he'd let Rouge sneak that one from under his nose,

"Just get in there". The bat smiled herself as she stepped inside the polished door and let out a low whistle as the opulence of the place sank in; even by her sharpened standards this was genuine class. The door opened into a wide living area complete with two-seater settee and, she noticed with some amusement, a sort of television set. She could see another hickory wood door off to the left that led into the kitchen area; the room was apparently self-catering but seemed to be stocked with all the mod-cons.

"Nice place Knucks; since when did you turn into a big spender?"

"Well, she said this was the only room left, and anyway, that fund of mine certainly matured over the years"; before she needed to ask Knuckles slid in close and whispered into the bat's ear. As the amount sank in, Knuckles laughed at her face,

"Aww, what I wouldn't give for a camera right now".

"Knucks"; _can't let him get away with that one_; Rouge rapidly fought down her sudden surprise and moved to counter him, a suave, calculating expression on her face, "you know you said I'd be a guardian…"

"Keep your sticky fingers to yourself you", the guardian couldn't help but laugh at her sudden look of hurt, petulant innocence,

"Knuckles, I'm wounded". _Don't smile, not yet._

"Make you a deal" the guardian managed to smile, "you save up for Station Square and I'll cover us when we're in Echidnopolis".

"Done". His partner finally let loose her own grin and stretched languidly; they had a few hours grace before night set in properly and in that time they could make headway on what was happening with the Master Emerald.

Just as they entered their temporary home, far away in Station Square, so did Amy Rose; the pink hedgehog hopped off Shadow's slim shoulders, still holding her video tightly to prevent it slipping from her grasp during the hyper speed run. After checking she was steady on her feet, Shadow slipped his key off its chain and inserted it into the lock.

"Sonic set off just before I did; he'll be back with Tails in a few minutes", much like Knuckles had, he opened the door to his more modest flat, "come on in; fancy a drink?"

"Oh, sure; got any of that strawberry coffee left?"

"Nah, sorry, but that was my favourite; it didn't last past the day after Boxing Day". Amy smiled as her ebon friend flicked the kettle on and reached for a second pot of the coffee he'd been gifted for Christmas; this brown tin was labelled Marching Coffee.

"What's that like?"

"Not sure, haven't opened it yet", he shook the tin to give a kind of samba rhythm just as the kettle began to steam, "gonna join me in a cup?"

"Are you sure we'll both fit?" Shadow pinched his face into a look of both pain and wounded pride as he wagged a single finger

"Leave the bad quips to me Ames; that's all I live for now". The rose hedgehog smiled as Shadow managed to put on and hold a completely serious expression,

"You live to deliver bad one-liners?"

"No, I live to see Sonic's reaction to them; trust me it's a scream" he laughed as the kettle boiled and he spooned coffee into two separate cups, "you take one sugar don't you?"

"Yeah, just the one; sweet enough not to need more". Just as the water was added to the first cup and strong aromatic steam rose into the kitchen air, the front door was opened and Sonic's voice rang out,

"Did I beat you back Shads?" The black hedgehog shook his head, handed Amy her coffee and then answered,

"Yes you beat me".

"Ah good", the dull slam of the door closing reached their ears and Tails suddenly appeared in the kitchen door, "just have to check I won; I know you wouldn't lie to me".

"Wouldn't dream of it" Shadow said sardonically before Tails took a deep sniff of the air in the kitchen and promptly covered his nose,

"Wahaooo, what are you two drinking?" he pinched his nostrils to spare his keen sense of smell, "smells like crude oil".

"It's called Marching Coffee", Shadow informed him as he took his first sip; a second after it had scoured the taste-buds from his tongue the black hedgehog promptly lowered the cup and gasped for air, "that's a mite strong". Amy took her first sip just as Sonic walked into the kitchen to join the gathering; he took one look at the way her eyes started watering and her mouth shrunk to the size of a pinprick and guessed what had happened.

"Marching Coffee huh?" He waited for her to nod mutely before turning to Shadow, "next time, read the label; you don't mess about with a drink that's 70 coco powder". Both drinkers silently agreed and as one tipped the rest of their coffee down the sink as Tails had to turn his back to avoid them seeing his shoulders shaking with giggles; _the ultimate life-form, beaten by refined home-brand – you couldn't make it up_.

_I remember the taste; it was sweeter and not as strong, but that was something I used to drink, and enjoy drinking_; in its quiescent state, Amy's silent passenger was capable of interpreting the neural stimuli that arose when the pink hedgehog interacted with her environment – basically, whatever she saw, it saw, if she tasted something, so did it. _There is much to do when the host becomes accessible once more; many theories to confirm and experiments to do…I know what an experiment is; I have done them before, but when_?

The working day was at an end; denied his crossword Remington was desperate to do two things; first he wanted to buy a second paper to get his daily puzzle fix and then he wanted to try and find out what Suduko was. Just as he had one foot out of his office, the intercom crackled again,

"Constable Remington, come in please sir". He slapped a paw onto his face and grudgingly stepped back into the smart room, overcoming his reluctance to simply pretend he'd already left and thus not heard the call.

"I am halfway out the door Yesa; this better be important".

"It is sir", at the front desk, the desk sergeant looked at the echidna stood in front of him apprehensively, "there's someone here who wants to see you about the guardian".

"Right", _could be important, or could be some kind of obsessive fan_, "I'm on my way; I'll deal with it".

"Very good sir". The line cut off as Remington quickly left his workplace before anything else could go wrong. In his sharp, mercurial mind, the EST commander was trying to weigh up all the potential outcomes of this call; he narrowed his razor eyes as he realised not many of them had potentially pleasant outcomes. He rounded the last corner to the office, prepared to see anything from a young street punk wanting to challenge Knuckles to some kind of duel to an elderly echidna wanting to see the guardian in the flesh. Therefore, the sight of a smaller echidna, from the looks of her uniform a nurse, standing patiently by the front desk and apparently chatting gamely to his friend Yesa-Do was a little unexpected but not completely disregarded from the realms of possibilities. He caught Yesa's eye and waited as the desk sergeant pointed him out to the nurse with the ever-present red pen he always carried. Remington folded his arms as the nurse approached him, taking in a youthful face and slim build concealed by the stark white of the traditional hospital gown.

"I hear you're looking for the guardian?"

"Yes", her voice was full and rich; it reminded the constable of honey as it rolled around into his ears and he lapped it up, "he was here earlier?"

"Yes, why do you need to see him?"

"Could you tell me where he went?" _This could get interesting_; there was a hungry look in the nurse's face that became more pronounced as he watched on; the enforcement office reasoned this was most probably a stalker case and his face hardened.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I need to see him"; the need, the gnawing want became more pronounced in her eyes and Remington steeled himself; he really didn't want to have to say no and bought time by asking another question.

"Why?" She didn't answer immediately and Remington took the breath that would allow him to point out the information was private, when suddenly her hand moved and an old, creased piece of paper was brought up to his chest. Keeping his eyes on her face, Remington gingerly took the pro-offered piece and unfolded it.

A few seconds later, the nurse left the main headquarters of the EST; following, almost to the exact footsteps, the path Knuckles had taken.

"I see what you mean about those power-showers Rouge", the guardian stepped out of the bathroom into his separate bedroom, calling through into the lounge where Rouge was waiting for him. He managed to wrap his still wet dreadlocks in a towel and, after putting his shoes back on, entered the co-joined living room. Rouge was sat on one side of the settee, clad in the pyjamas she had found folded neatly under the pillow in her own room as she had sent her jumpsuit to the hotel dry-cleaners; it was stating to show the signs of wear after two days of travel and the bell boy who had answered her room service call had promised it would be ready for collection by the morning. The bat smiled as Knuckles sat down beside her and she caught sight of his new headgear.

"They are good aren't they, but anyway", she clapped her hands, suddenly business-like as the gravity of the situation reasserted itself for her, "we've got to figure out why this has happened; why has this city suddenly sprung up just outside our doorstep?"

"And where did it come from, and how's the Master involved?" Knuckles added a few questions of his own before his eyes fell on the telephone and he remembered that this place had room service, "but I say we order something to eat first".

"Nice plan, oh, and while you're over there, get the pad next to the phone; we'll sketch down anything we come up with as we go". Knuckles nodded as he began dialling, spoke for a few minutes and then replaced the phone; Rouge guessed from his smug look that thinks had panned out well.

"Get everything you wanted?"

"Yep, a decent meal of fried mussels and a salad for two, some sparkling mineral water and even", he grinned broadly at Rouge, "a sweetberry and grape soufflé for dessert". _Right, I definitely owe him one for that_; the bat licked her lips as the mere memory of that particular dish caused her mouth to start watering and she asked,

"How long?"

"They said no more than about thirty minutes". Rouge chuckled as the echidna sauntered back over to her and raised an eyebrow,

"You know, I could get to like this city". Not for the first time, Knuckles found himself laughing with her as he flourished the pad he'd brought back with him,

"I'll admit it's a nice change of scenery, but come on; there's some time to make a start on this puzzle now".

"Okay, let's do this".

_What a dish_; Ulse-Ni re-ran the conversation she'd had with the guardian over once more in her head; with each rendition, she noticed another feature that just added to Knuckles' general sex appeal. The memory of his pecs, the dusky red fur, his burning purple eyes and, she sniggered a little, all topped off with a butt she could have watched all day long. Then she sighed – she'd had enough experience in relationships to realise that, while Rouge seemed to be around, she had roughly a snowball's chance in hell of landing the guardian; he must have been in deep to rent that kind of room both for and with her. _But I can dream can't I_; just as she was beginning to begin another performance, it had to be temporarily suspended as the main door was pushed open by another potential client.

"Good evening, welcome to the Promenade, how may I help you?" The other echidna, a nurse she realised as she came closer to the desk in short, quick strides, spoke breathlessly; Ulse realised she must have run here from somewhere.

"Is the guardian here?" _Man, from what Katr-Cu said he's been here less than a day and he's already got women all over him – me included_;

"Yes, he checked in not so long ago". She wasn't sure, but she thought an expression of pure, simple relief flooded across the other's face of just a second before the emerald eyes became clear once more,

"Please, can you tell me the room he's in?" Ulse frowned for two reasons; one it was against company policy and two she didn't want to give that knowledge to a potential rival.

"Sorry, but I can't…"

"Please", the other echidna composed herself; _forgive me child but this is urgent_; "I'm from the hospital; the guardian had some tests done and, well, they sent me to give the results". Ulse straightened in her chair; _she sounds serious and I can always say it was guardian business – Mr Quia 'I've-got-a-rod-so-far-up-my-butt-I-can't-bend-over' Ge should swallow that_;

"Okay, he's in room 49-V, hey wait", she called quickly as the nurse looked ready to dash off; "it's not serious is it?" Ulse always remembered afterwards that the nurse chuckled just before she headed for the stairs,

"It might be; he'll probably go into shock but, with luck, he'll pull through".

Knuckles scratched the side of his face as, in his eyes at least, it seemed he and Rouge were making precious little headway. He stated the facts again as he could recall them, the bat ready to interject if she remembered anything differently or he had missed out,

"Right, there are pulses from the Master, and the land starts appearing…"

"There was writing glowing on the shrine walls too", Rouge broke in abruptly, trying to picture the scene of the shrine interior in her mind again as the Master Emerald had revolved in the air in front of her; she didn't want to miss any detail in case it turned out to be in some way connected to this whole picture. Knuckles nodded, scribbled something on the already cramped piece of paper and continued,

"So, we start going across this land, and we can roughly follow our path as I can feel what's being created by the feel of the energy sweeping over me", another note was made, "we eat and sleep; then we do a high-fly next morning and you nearly give me a coronary", Rouge winked and shrugged as he glared over playfully, "we travel here and I talk to Teri-Le for the first time; now this is where it gets interesting". He flipped the page over and readied his pen,

"Teri recognised me by the mark on my chest; so we can say that echidnas with this crest are guardians. He also said there was supposed to be one every generation of echidnas, so that means there may be other guardians present – we'll need to look into that". Rouge nodded as he glanced over for confirmation; if there were any other guardians out there they would probably have at least some idea of what was going on. From there, she took over for a minute,

"Teri also said something about spikes but that's not really an issue now you're registered and fully legal. He also said the dam was what powered Echidnopolis and that there's not much in the way of traffic up here".

"Good spotting that, by the way", Knuckles complimented the bat for her agile thinking earlier in the day, "never crossed my mind about that". Rouge nodded and a wry smile crossed her lips next as something didn't quite add up,

"Now this is the bit I'm having trouble with; we know the echidnas have the technology to move around a bit, but they don't seem to have mastered flight yet. So they can move, then Teri said that he's never been much further than the reservoir; now why is that?" Rouge furrowed her brow as she tried to get the data to compute, "we've got a mobile people just staying in one place; that doesn't feel right to me".

"I agree; something else to look at. Also", Knuckles was reminded of the way most other echidnas had reacted to Rouge and, more subtly, the manner in which their currency seemed to have no visible name, "they don't seem to have got out much; Teri said he'd never seen anyone but an echidna before now, and look", he drew forth one of his bills and offered it to Rouge, "nothing like a dollar sign; I don't think they've ever needed an exchange rate". The bat examined the crisp five and then suddenly snapped her fingers; Knuckles made ready with pen and paper,

"It's the island, or it might be something to do with it", she looked at the guardian intently, "think about it, they're up here by themselves, there's no way off as they don't have aircraft so they've never seen anyone; the echidnas are all like you in a way – didn't meet anyone new until they", she chuckled as she remembered the circumstances Knuckles had told her this particular story, "almost literally, fell in right on top of them; remind you of anything?" Knuckles guessed what she was driving at and rolled his eyes lazily,

"If you're referring to the Death Egg bit I…" He was cut off suddenly by a knock at the door and hid the paper they'd been working on; both treasure hunters had seen first hand that news spread across Echidnopolis like wildfire and a bell boy seeing something like that could probably lead to nasty consequences. Rouge stood and headed backwards as Knuckles looked a little confused,

"Where are you…?" _Ah_; he cut off his own question as he realised which door the bat was moving towards and, realising he was paying anyway, decided he could get the food on the table before she came back. Moving quickly, the guardian opened the front door of his temporary apartment.

"Hello?"

_A nurse_; Knuckles furrowed his brows as, rather than a chef, or even a porter, there was a different kind of uniformed echidna on his doorstep. His confusion became concern when, after studying his face for a few seconds, she suddenly dropped her head before he could get a clear look at her,

"Can, er, can I help you?"

"You have", the voice was thick and Knuckles was more concerned to see tears glistening in the female's eyes as she raised her gaze to his again, "just by being here, you've helped me more than you know". _That doesn't make sense, but, wait_; something was niggling Knuckles as he took in the echidna woman before him; before he could act on it though, she had presented him with something held in her hand. Taking it curiously, keeping his eyes on her expression until the last minute, Knuckles flicked his eyes down to realise it was an old photograph of some kind. It showed the woman in front of him, albeit a lot younger and…the guardian's jaw dropped like someone had punched him in the gut. She had a baby in her arms; a young echidna, no more than a year old – a baby with spurs, and the guardian's crest just visible on its tiny chest.

The photo fluttered to the floor as Knuckles Echidna looked back up, his dimmest, most early memories triggered by the reminder; a time when he had been held, when he hadn't been alone, he'd been safe, protected by his…his,

"M,mum?" Tears streaming from her eyes, the nurse identified by her name tag as Lara-Le spread her arms wide and, even through the turmoil, managed to smile,

"Hello son".

Rouge finished drying her hands on the clean white towel and casually opened the bathroom door, fully expecting to see Knuckles waiting for her with dinner on the table; however, it was quickly obvious that either Knuckles was giving the oddest tip she'd ever seen or something else was going on. He had his back to her and, she cocked her head in confusion as she saw a pair of arms were encircling her boyfriend around the chest area, through the face of their owner must have been buried in Knuckles' shoulder. _What the hell…;_ instinctive possessiveness sprang up in her mind before she could control it and she felt her anger rise sharply – how could Knuckles do this with some stranger in front of her? However, luckily this was only a split-second reaction – Rouge had been trained to quickly analyse facts from wild fiction and rapidly realised that this couldn't be some kind of ex-girlfriend; Knuckles hadn't even seen another echidna before today.

_This is something else, and should I be here? _Rouge suddenly began to feel very awkward for some reason, as though she was intruding on something that aught to remain private, especially when, now that the initial stab of panic and possessiveness had died down, her ears saw fit to inform her that at least one of the pair in the embrace was crying; she could hear the sniffles and choked breathing that accompanied such an outpouring even from where she was. The bat was caught in a quandary; half of her wanted to remain completely motionless in the hope of not being seen or heard while the other half said she should retreat quietly into the room she had just emerged from and gently pull the door to, giving Knuckles some privacy in whatever he was doing. She was motionless still, mind still torn almost perpendicularly between confusion and shame, both for her earlier reaction and for eavesdropping on this event, when she heard Knuckles speak, his normally deep voice a strangled, yet somehow happy croak.

"Come in, for goodness sake come in". He turned towards her and she lowered her eyes, not wanting him to think she'd been intentionally nosey when she heard a second voice, equally choked but happy and most definitely female. She couldn't help herself; she glanced up at the speaker and that was when she was completely mesmerised; her eyes flitted from Knuckles to the female by his side as he led her in and her hand reflexively covered her mouth as it hit her. _It's all there; they've got the same jaw-line, the same sort of fur colour, he's just bigger built and his eyes are a different colour to hers – oh Christ, what do I do now?_ Just for once, her mind, trained to react to changing circumstances in a single instant, froze up completely; she literally couldn't get a response from her limbs as she failed utterly to think of a single thing to do, or to say. She saw the new woman, the echidna who just had to be Knuckles' relation, look at her suddenly and panic coursed through her; now she just might get the explanation she dreaded and had looked forward to in equal measure.

Lara-Le squeezed as tightly as she could the son she had once lost and, as she felt him return the hold without remorse or restraint, she swore by the Master Emerald itself that nothing, _nothing_ on this entire planet would ever force them apart again. She cried unashamedly, not caring if anyone saw or what anyone thought as she and Knuckles were reunited. She felt the hold relinquish slightly and heard a delirious whisper in her ear,

"Come in, for goodness sake come in". She didn't resist as she was led into the apartment by the one echidna she had never thought she would ever see again; as she walked, Lara offered thanks to whatever spirit had led her here; that the rumours had been true and Knuckles had returned to his own people again. She swept her eyes up to see her son, _her son_; she just couldn't say that enough any more, but her eyes were side-tracked by the sight of another person, not an echidna either, standing still as stone over at the far side of the room, watching on with wide eyes and a paw over her mouth as though in shock.

"Rouge", she heard Knuckles speak and followed his arm as he beckoned to the other, eyes glowing with joy and crackling with sheer delight as he repeated the name, "Rouge, come over here".

_Come on think, what's the most likely explanation for this_; for the first time she could remember, Rouge was actually afraid and embarrassed; embarrassed for having such irrational first thoughts of betrayal, and then afraid, properly afraid, of what Knuckles would think of her hearing something like this, even if it had in all honesty been an accident. Slowly, shyly placing each foot in front of the other as though her life depended on her footing, the bat approached the pair and smiled weakly.

"Rouge, I'd like you to meet my mother", he confirmed what she had suspected from the second she'd seen them side by side, "this is Lara-Le". Rouge managed a weak smile as it felt like a fist gripped her heart; was it happiness for Knuckles' sake or the selfish, immature feeling that she hated and despised now she was aware of it, yet had still felt within herself; that for the first time she wasn't the only woman in his life? As her head span, Knuckles continued,

"Mum, this is Rouge the Bat; she's my friend, my partner and my soul-mate". Lara's heart swelled as though it would burst with pride as she realised that her Knuckles hadn't been alone all the way through his guardianship; he'd managed to find someone without the need for outside interference. She looked at Rouge warmly and smiled in pity; the younger girl's face was a mixture of violently conflicting emotions that she wasn't sure how to deal with. Lara tried to help her as best she could,

"Rouge", it was the woman who was speaking to her; with a rush of relief she could barely contain the ex-spy realised she wasn't angry or upset, she instead saw that the female echidna seemed to be smiling at her just like Knuckles was, "that's a pretty name". _She's terrified, but Knuckles, this is your choice_; Lara had seen enough in her son's expressions and pronunciations of the bat's name to know she couldn't interfere with what may happen next.

_I gotta get out of here – they need to be together_; Rouge latched onto that idea with the ferocity of a bear trap; Knuckles needed time and solitude with his mother and she had no right to be here, not now. She smiled at both Lara and Knuckles individually and made to sidled towards the door,

"Well, you two, I'll just, see what's…" A heavy arm gently fell in front of her path and Knuckles' voice, slightly returned to its natural depth and volume, purred at her gently, soothing her fears and easing her worries like nothing else could.

"Don't go", the guardian smiled at her with all the warmth his heart could possibly hold, "I want you to, to be here, with us".

Rouge felt tears well up in her eyes as Knuckles, already crying freely once more, drew his arm around her and pulled her slowly in close, the furnace of his emotion burning down the barrier of awkwardness like it was matchwood. Slowly, the desire to flee left her and Rouge relaxed in his grip, not saying a word as she silently and unreservedly thanked the echidna for allowing her to share one of the most important moments of his life. Lara flitted her eyes to Rouge's form and back to her son; Knuckles, eyes still wet, smiled back and gave a tiny nod. The female echidna let the news sink in with an explosion of joy; _good for you son_. Overcome with emotion once more, she wrapped her arms around the guardian again; Knuckles used his other arm to hold her close and mouthed a silent prayer of thanks to whatever had caused the Master Emerald to reveal the lost city of Echidnopolis and the roots of his ancestry.

"Look at us"; gradually, Lara managed to disentangle herself from the hold, smiling ruefully as she wiped her eyes, "we're all in tears; I meant this to be a happy occasion".

"Trust me, this is one of the best days of my life". Knuckles spoke from the heart as Rouge nodded in agreement, slowly removing herself from his grip as she spied something on the carpet near the door. She silently retrieved it as Knuckles made Lara-Le more comfortable in the living room of their apartment, the guardian's mind ablaze with questions he wanted to ask but wasn't quite sure how to phrase properly. _Hehe_; Rouge recovered the photograph from where it had fallen and took a decent eyeful; _aww, he was a cute baby_. Mood a little lightened by the sight of Knuckles in a nappy, Rouge turned back to where Lara-Le had sat down comfortably, smoothing out her uniform as she kept her eyes still on her son's grown, rugged face – he'd matured into what she'd always hoped he'd be; _stronger than his father but_; she glanced at Rouge and her soul was lifted once more, _not cold, not as heartless_. She broke off as the bat approached, holding the picture she'd brought with her and offering it back to her,

"This is yours Mrs Le".

"Please Rouge, call me Lara". Rouge nodded acquiescingly and sat back into her seat; there was a very pregnant pause as all three Mobians desperately wanted to say something but was never quite sure how to voice their thoughts properly. The atmosphere was tense until Knuckles, still not quite taking the situation in completely, gave a wry chuckle and gently clapped his hands together. Looking up as both women looked over at him, he shook his head,

"I wanted to ask a thousand questions, but now, I can't remember a single one of them".

"I know how you feel son", Lara suddenly brightened up, stuck by a sudden idea, "but, there's something I would like to know".

"Yes?" The older Mobian smiled at both her son and the one who, she could see, had managed to steal his heart completely,

"I'd like to know how you two managed to find each other, and then how you both made it here". The pair shared a glance before Rouge gave the guardian a small nod of encouragement and he began to tell his mother all that had happened, from the first time he had met Rouge to the events that had culminated with their arrival in Echidnopolis. The tension in the room sloughed away like dead bark as he spoke on, Lara-Le listening in to her son's tale, intervening with a few choice questions to clarify certain matters, but mostly just glorifying that her son had found her, and he was as perfect as she had ever prayed he'd be.

As the mood in Echidnapolis lightened, the one in Station Square was darkening almost perceptibly; movies watched and popcorn finished, it was down to this to finish the evening. As the bulb above the table shone down dingily, there was a series of quick, shuffling movements as Sonic dealt from the deck evenly, keeping his eyes on the reactions of the other players as they drew in their cards; this was serious now – they were playing for sweets. After a few seconds of examining, the hedgehog turned to his left and called,

"Tails, how many?" The kit flicked the side of his left-most card and then slid all his hand bar one over,

"Four"; _man that was a lousy hand, but_; there was a glimmer in his eye that he quickly quashed; _lucky number seven_. Sonic made a note of the almost imperceptible shift of the fox's face and moved along,

"Amy?" _Hmm_; she had a decent hand, a three, two eights and two nines, but what should she do next? _I could drop the three, but it's not very likely to get me an eight or a nine – should I drop a pair and hope or play it safe?_

_Play it safe_; from behind her eyes, the being had rapidly deduced the mechanisms of this simple game of chance and amused itself by putting itself in the host's place; it was actually quite surprised to find that, more often than not, the host tended to make the same decision it would; _and once more, you do as I say; control, that is something that is familiar – me giving commands, others obeying, but some would not…_

"I'll take one"; she slid her card over to Sonic and he in turn flicked one over to her face down; _she's getting better – can't read her as well as I used to_. Realising her reaction had slipped him this time, Sonic shrugged casually and asked the last player. Shadow asked for three and then Sonic took two for himself. When the dealing was done, the stakes were put on the line; Tails, smiling wickedly, started off, pushing a single jellied treat into the centre of the table,

"I'll bet one".

"I'll see it", Amy produced three sweets, "and I'll raise two". Shadow looked at the pile in front and kept his poker face; by nature he was a cautious player, so he merely paid enough in to keep himself in. Sonic, however, was a different matter,

"I'm in and", he removed his paw from the table, "I'll raise by three". Amy whistled, looked down at her cards and placed her hand face down on the table,

"I fold".

_Good choice; he's hiding something._

"I don't", _he's bluffing, I can tell_; Tails slid in his 'chips' and grinned as Shadow silently shook his head and set his cards down similar to Amy's, "well bro, let's see what you got". Sonic licked his lips as he placed his cards face up on the table, one at a time,

"Well, I have this pair of aces", the single card of spades and diamonds obligingly appeared on the table, "and three twos – full house, beat that". _Well, he wasn't bluffing_; Tails grinned openly as his hand hit the table; _but when you've a hand like that it doesn't really matter_.

"Four of a kind – lucky number seven". Sonic winced as Tails scooped the pot; he hadn't expected the fox to pull a hand like that. The gleeful fox gently placed a skittle on I tongue and slowly sucked it, just to rub it in a little as Shadow reprimanded,

"Stop eating the currency".

"Hey, I'm a rich man", Tails indicated his now-enlarged pile of sweets, "I can afford to". Shadow took in the rest of the cards and began to shuffle the pack of cards as Sonic glanced at his rapidly dwindling reserves and then looked over at his brother pleadingly,

"Tails, umm, any chance of a loan?"

A/N: In case you didn't know, Lara-Le actually is Knuck's mum if you read the Archie comics – just saying I don't own her. The poker game will become important next chapter, and some other things will be explained…


	13. Chapter 12 A Night Worth Remembering

Chapter 12 – A Night Worth Remembering.

It had been a hard, long struggle that had swayed both back and forth; Shadow looked to have had the game sewn up when suddenly Amy had managed to pull the single card she needed for a running flush of diamonds, aces high, to scoop enough candy to break the black hedgehog's stranglehold on the game. Since then, however, she'd had a lot less luck; now she only had a single pair of jacks to go with and the stakes were high, Tails especially seemed to have a decent hand as he was raising by seven. Amy took her three cards and shook her head,

"Nah, too hot for me; I fold, and that's it, no more cards for me".

"Just about broken even Ames?" Shadow enquired, noticing how the pile of sweets next to the pink hedgehog was roughly the same as it had been before the game had started.

"Yeah, finish on a high, that's my motto".

_Good, I'm beginning to like the taste of these little parcels of energy; the jelly-beans are especially, fulfilling…that's a word I used to use a lot._

"At least you could", another voice complained; from his position opposite her, Sonic looked over mournfully; absolutely nothing had gone right for him this game and he didn't have a chocolate button to call his own, "I didn't have a chance; rotten fox", he broke off to mutter mutinously at Tails; the kit seemed to have a knack for knowing exactly when he was bluffing and when he was serious. Tails smiled as she shuffled the deck,

"Well, you know what they say about gambling; now it's just you and me Shads", his youthful face glowed with the hint of a challenge as he made his last gamble, "now let's finish this; bet everything blind". _Are you serious_; for a second Shadow couldn't believe Tails was suggesting that, but then his eyes flicked to the clock on the wall and he realised it was getting on a bit and, after all, it was only sweets they were playing for,

"You're on"; two large piles of candy were pushed into the centre of the table and all four Mobians waited with baited breath as slowly, deliberately, Tails dealt the cards that would decide the victor of the evening.

Nothing showed on the player's faces; it was a completely neutral pair of expressions that regarded each other across the table as Tails colourlessly asked for the number of cards Shadow wanted,

"Two". The requisite pair were obligingly provided and then Tails took three for himself; you could have cut the air with a knife as Shadow drew a deep breath and spoke,

"Dealer first". _Okay, just cross your fingers and hope like crazy_; the fox swallowed the uncomfortable lump in his throat and slowly laid down his cards,

"I got a flush; six to ten". Shadow looked over and smirked; Tails was suddenly filled with a sinking feeling as the black hedgehog laid down his first card,

"Seven", the seven of clubs, "eight", diamonds, "nine", another diamond; the fox shut his eyes as he realised he was going to be cheated by the smallest of margins, "ten and would you believe it, the jack as well".

"Harsh", Sonic stated as Tails growled in disappointment, though he shook the black hedgehog's offered paw like the decent sport he was at heart.

"Ah well, I guess I had enough popcorn earlier"; Shadow smiled as he flicked a small handful of the sweets back to Tails,

"Call that consolation; I had a jammy deal".

"Thanks". Sonic followed the course of the sweets skittering across the clean table-top intently and with hungry eyes; as always, Amy noticed and pinned two of her remaining sweets with a pair of finger tips.

"Hey Sonikku", he looked up as she pushed one of them forwards and he caught it with a cupped hand, "you're in luck, I'm on a diowww!"

_Ahh, what was that?_ Amy clutched her eyes as a sudden pain flared up from them; it felt like something had poked them both violently, but the strange thing was it felt like it had come from the inside. It vanished as quickly as it had arrived, leaving her a little confused as voices of concern reached her ears,

"Ames", Tails had a paw on her arm, looking at his brother as Sonic left his seat instantly, stalking around the table to her shoulder, "you alright?" She tried to blink her eyes open; the left one was fine, but the right had something pressing against it, something…ah, that was it, panic over.

"It's fine, I just got something in my eye", carefully, she ran a finger along the inside of her lower right eyelid, feeling a soft, flexible something dislodge under the tentative touch and allow her to clear her vision completely, "feels like an eyelash". Sure enough, as she blinked away a few reflexive tears, she could clearly see the characteristic black hair caught on the white tip of her glove. Sonic chuckled as she blew it away onto the floor,

"Stop doing that you; that's twice you've panicked me in a week".

"Ah Sonic", Shadow looked up at his flat-mate with a decidedly devious smile on his face, "I never knew you cared so much". _The second they're home you die Blackie_; Sonic disdainfully kept his cool as Amy smiled and patted his arm reassuringly; it had been nothing but a little nudge from nature as far as she knew.

_That was foolish; the memory was important but to attempt to seize control like that could have ruined everything; I nearly harmed the host._ The being seethed and boiled impotently inside Amy's skull as it both berated itself for its carelessness and silently implored the host to relinquish control to it soon.

Unknown to it, there was a second Mobian not in control of herself; Lara-Le was currently laughing helplessly as Knuckles and Rouge blushed, having just been through the exact circumstances that resulted in them admitting their feelings for each other,

"So, so they walked in on you?"

"More like we invited them", Knuckles squirmed as his mother tried to spare his embarrassment but ultimately failed, "well, they heard us talking and there wasn't really much we could say to deny it, so, we thought better now than later". Lara smiled warmly as she choked back any more giggles; she glowed with pride as she realised that her earlier suspicions had been confirmed in the best possible way; _Knuckles, you're a lucky echidna._ The parent smiled at Rouge as the bat blushed once more, reliving the embarrassment that had resulted from Sonic dropping the news their private conversation hadn't been all that private by telephone from the next room.

"Well, I'm glad", she looked amused as the pair glanced at her surprised, "it looks like you both helped and supported each other all the way through", she fixed her eyes on Rouge and spoke without accusation or malice, "after you stopped trying to steal the Master Emerald at least".

"Well, I didn't really know how important it was back then", Rouge admitted, feeling her respect for Knuckles' mother grow as they exchanged words; Lara didn't seem to mind the her son had a girlfriend that wasn't an echidna – if anything she appeared to be supportive of the pair.

"Don't worry, I didn't either at first; that only happened when…" she caught herself; old, painful memories resurfaced through her as she realised this was it – she couldn't deny Knuckles the truth now; _I won't lie to my son – he deserves the truth after so long_.

"When what mum?" Lara looked into the concerned, innocent eyes of her beloved son and found the strength she needed to tell her story,

"…When your father introduced me to it".

_Father_; Knuckles gasped as the full implications of this slammed down on him; in the excitement of being reunited with his mother, the blindingly obvious fact that his father was probably out there as well had somehow escaped him. The echidna leant forwards, voice excited as questions flowed from him without pause,

"My father; how is he? What's he like? Is he…mum?" Knuckles cut himself off as he realised something was wrong; Lara appeared to be on the verge of tears as she looked at him unsteadily, trying to steel herself for what she could say next,

"Knuckles, I can't, I won't lie to you", she took a deep breath as Rouge sensed trouble on the horizon like a great dark cloud, "your father and I, we, uh, we're not together any more; we separated". _Separated_; Knuckles fell back into his chair, the dream of having a complete family once more lying in ruins as the words were slowly, grudgingly accepted by his logical mind. Rouge quickly reached over and gripped his hand, shocked by this almost as much as he was but knowing how much contact meant in situations like this.

"I'm sorry Knuckles", Lara-Le let tears slip from her eyes as she relived the nightmare once more, "I never wanted to say it, but, we couldn't be, not…"

"Why?" The red echidna's voice was a whispered husk; he didn't want to accept it, but he could see his mother was in more pain than he was and couldn't let that continue. He was struck with a sense of déjà vu; admitting his feelings to Rouge had helped him before in the past, now he could do the same for his mother.

"Tell me mum, in your own time", he stood up and embraced her, speaking softly as Lara-Le cried into the crest that had doomed her son's childhood, "I won't get angry, but I want you to talk to me; it'll help". He released her slowly and she nodded; Knuckles deserved the truth behind his isolation, and she'd never get a better chance to say it than now.

"When we married, your father, Locke, was a loving husband and doted on me hand and foot. We guarded the Master together and, though it was hard, we were happy all the time, together and alone. It stayed like this for nearly a year, then I found out I was pregnant; we were both over the moon, especially when you were born. It was he who named you Knuckles, just said it suited you. He said, and still says, the day you fought your way out of your egg was the proudest day of his life". Lara paused for a second, regarding Knuckles and to a lesser extent Rouge as well; both seemed to be taking it in well enough, but this was were it started going downhill,

"It was when you turned about five that it started; Locke changed, very gradually and slowly", _oh no, please, anything but that_; Rouge closed her eyes as she realised this story was beginning to resemble the one her mother had told her; they had been abandoned by her father before she was born, but if anything, being abandoned after your child was born sounded far crueller, "he became colder and, I thought, guiltier as well. He swore he wasn't having an affair but before I could confirm it, he came out and said it…" Lara's eyes glazed over, the words from years ago running through her mind and from her mouth again,

_She stood up as she heard her husband approach; she turned around. Locke was stood in the doorway, his face cold and mournful as he gestured for her to sit down,_

_"Lara, I need to take Knuckles"._

_"Why?" Something in his tone wasn't right, neither was the way he walked towards her, eyes fixed on his son's sleeping form,_

_"Because, because it's time now, and I have to", his eyes had begun tearing up, a slight sob in his voice, "I need to fulfil the code". Lara brought her arms up to shield Knuckles; this wasn't like her husband, not the caring, loving echidna she knew._

_"What code – what are you talking about Locke?"_

_"The guardian code – the youngest must fend for themselves; Knuckles is old enough now and…"_

_"No!" Maternal instincts fired up; Lara leapt up between Locke and their son, "have you gone mad – you'll abandon him out there?" He had gone mad, there was no other explanation; she searched his face, a face she knew so well; her blood froze as the determination and pain there reached in and gripped her hypnotically._

_"I, I have no choice", tears fell from his eyes as he looked at her, "it's our way; I was left alone before they let me meet you Lara; it must be the same for Knuckles". Her world was falling apart; one of the two echidnas she cared for was threatening, no, promising, to take away the other forever, she couldn't allow it._

_"No, Locke", an infantile cry arose as she shouted and Knuckles awoke, "you can't take him; I won't…" A green glow surrounded his hand and she fell away, swallowed in darkness as two words reached her before the light faded completely,_

_"Forgive me"._

Lara wept as the tale ended, the memories gouging her again as she remembered waking to Locke's heartbroken sobs, from one look at his face she could tell Knuckles was gone; she had screamed, begged to have him back and ultimately wept, lost in grief; her son was gone and she could never recover him.

"We, we split up shortly after that; we just couldn't go on together, not after that. I, I'm sorry". She couldn't continue; the tears fell too thick and fast, her head dropping as she couldn't look at Knuckles; she had failed him in letting him be taken. There was a rustling sound and suddenly she was supported, held by another.

"Shh Lara", Rouge had seen enough and her conscience wouldn't let this scene play out any more without her doing something, "it wasn't your fault; you did everything you could to help Knuckles but…" She was cut off as the echidna himself joined in, holding his mother and his girlfriend tightly, not saying a word as Lara purged herself of her shame, crying unstoppably as the truth behind her divorce came into full view in front of the one echidna it had centred around.

_My father, abandoned me_; Knuckles was unsure what to feel; anger certainly – no-one should make his mother suffer like that, but curiosity also; why had his father been driven to abandon him and in the process wreck his own, seemingly happy marriage? Mostly though, it was sorrow; sorrow for what his mother had felt, sorrow for himself, sorrow even, in an oblique way, for his father Locke, having to do such a thing knowing the consequences.

"He, he cares though", muffled as it was, Lara knew she couldn't let her son only hear half the truth, "he cried all the time, screamed like he was dying when I told him I wanted a divorce. He signed though, didn't try and talk me down; just let me go, even if it broke his heart to do so". _I'll be breaking more than his heart_; Knuckles gritted his teeth, instinctive anger clouding his mind as he realised his father had betrayed them both; Locke, if that was his name, had abandoned him to the mercies of Angel Island and broken his mother's heart – no-one could do something like that and expect to get away with it.

"He'll pay".

"No", Lara heart her son's growl and it chilled her blood; she could see pure, naked aggression on his face and the thought of him turning it against his own father frightened her, "Knuckles, listen to me; I've spoken to Locke since, we separated", she waited until Knuckles was looking at her before continuing, "I can't say I forgive him for what he did, but I can understand why now; please, I beg of you, when you see him again, hear him out and don't just lash out". The sense of the words percolated through the mist of rage; Knuckles eventually regained full control and nodded at his mother,

"All right", he hugged her again, Rouge having quietly left the gathering by this time as it became more private, "I'll hear him if I see him, I promise".

"Thanks son" Lara let both the other Mobians go and sat back down in her seat; a metallic beeping filled the air and she stood again as though electrified. Knuckles swapped a glance with Rouge; Lara went red as she produced a buzzing contraption that might have been some kind of mobile telephone and raised it to her ear.

"Hello?" Knuckles watched his mother's face drop and her cheeks flame again; he hid a smile as he realised Rouge had been right about something – it really was funny watching someone with red fur blush.

"Oh no, I'm really, really sorry Wyn, but something big came up and", there was a pause and Lara smiled embarrassedly at her son as he raised an eyebrow, "where, I'm at the Promenade hotel, yes that one oh, just a sec"; she covered the appliance with one hand and spoke quickly,

"I might need to go soon; I'm sorry".

"No problem". Knuckles watched on, not amused but mood lightened as he watched his mother talk down the phone to this mysterious Wyn; _I might need to ask a few questions here…_

The conversation lasted a couple more minutes; by the end of it, Knuckles was just short of laughter, Rouge had retreated to the bathroom to avoid bursting out in hysterics and Lara wanted the earth to swallow her up. She slid the appliance away as Knuckles began,

"So, who was that, Wyn, character?" Lara smiled crookedly; she had wanted to keep that private for now – how could she have forgotten to cancel with him?

"Well, Wyn is short for Wynmacher; he's a friend of mine who was going to pick me up from the hospital, but…"

"Working late were you?" Knuckles grinned as he realised two things; for once he'd managed to catch someone out and secondly that, if his guess was right, his mother had at least started to recover from whatever his father had put her through, "come on mum; tell the truth". _Well, at least he's not angry and he's perceptive_;

"Okay, I've, um, been seeing him for, well, a while now and, sorry I shouldn't have let you know yet but…" Knuckles calmed her with a wave of his hand and a smile,

"Mum, does this Wynmacher make you happy?"

"Err, yes, he…"

"Then that's all that matters". Knuckles stood up, realising just how late it was and that he might have needed to see his mother home in the darkness. Lara mimicked her son's movement, embracing him one last time as she whispered her thanks.

"Will you need some help to get home mum?"

"No", she smiled as Knuckles released her, "Wyn said he'd drive me when he got here".

"Still on for that ride home is he?" Knuckles smirked as his mother went red again; _cheeky little, well big – time to lay down the ground rules_; Lara put her hands on her hips and scowled,

"Rule number one Knuckles; never cheek your mother"; her hands shot into his ribs just as they had when he'd been young enough for her to pick up with a single hand – she noticed with glee that it still had the same result,

"Ah, mum nohohoho", Knuckles tried to protect himself as he doubled over, "okay, I'm sorry". She withdrew as he straightened again, suitably chastised by the sudden reminder of who was boss.

"Good, now listen", she smiled again, "I'm not at work tomorrow and neither is Wyn; how would you like to spend the day with us, just going around the city, a sort of, day out?"

"Mum, are you mad?" Knuckles grinned in celebration, "I'd love that, and I'm sure Rouge would too; what time and where?" Details were quickly confirmed and sorted as Lara checked the time; she didn't really want to, but now she had to get back to her own home; _at least I'll see him tomorrow_. Knuckles led her towards the door and held her one last time as she made to leave, kissing her gently on the lips.

"Bye mum; thanks for telling me, I know it must have been hard".

"You deserved the truth Knuckles", Lara smiled again as she stepped across the threshold of his door, "I'm sorry it had to come as a shock like this, but I couldn't…"

"I understand, thank you"; Knuckles repeated, smiling serenely as Lara-Le turned and began to walk down the corridor of the hotel, heading for the stairs. Knuckles kept his eye on her until she turned the corner and then silently, reverently, closed the door behind him. He turned on the spot to see Rouge just emerged from the bathroom; though her ultra-sensitive hearing had let her catch most of what had been said, she was still looking at Knuckles for conformation of a few facts; before she could speak though, he held up a hand and shook his head,

"Not a word; let's just clear up and go to bed – we can talk in the morning".

"Okay Knucks"; a little put out by this, Rouge nevertheless agreed; this was his time and his place, he should decide what he wanted to do next. Without exchanging another word, the pair of guardians settled down for the night.

_It was green before red_; as the two guardians went to bed, someone else was just waking up and felt frustrated as it remembered its uncharacteristic mistake; from its memory the being remembered the green sweet that had been passed to the blue hedgehog, just before the red one had; _green before red. It was the same before; green caused me pain, the red was able to heal – but there were other colours, more than there should be now. What were they? How does this relate?_

To all intents and purposes it seemed that Amy Rose walked into the kitchen of her apartment, albeit rather late at night; but a single glance at the expression of confusion mingled with concern on her normally smiling face would have proved to anyone even remotely connected with her that something was amiss. Using its host's body and the knowledge it had accumulated over the day, the being flicked on the kettle.

_The materials needed to produce the drink I tasted earlier should be close at hand. The taste should be milder and less potent, and sweeter as well. Steam rises from the kettle, make ready; one spoon of coffee and three sugars for myself, half a spoon and only one…wait; why do I have two cups ready? Who was I making the other cup for? Hmm, this anomaly must have a cause, but I am as yet unsure what the cause is._

Under remote control, as it were, Amy lifted the kettle and poured the recently boiled water into the cup of ingredients; the being took a sniff and Amy smiled; the smell of the resultant steam was quite refreshing. The being sat at the kitchen table, waiting for the cup to cool a little, all the time thinking, remembering, puzzling what was so important – green before red?

He couldn't sleep; Knuckles was bone-tired and his emotions were scrambled like someone had shoved them through a blender, but his eyelids resolutely refused to close. He tried breathing exercises, to logically think through why he couldn't get himself to sleep only to find there was no reason. The bed he was in was both larger and more comfortable, a hundred times more comfortable, than his own and there was just no comparison when it came to the pillows. _I should be asleep_; the echidna furrowed his brows; it felt like something was missing, there was a vague need for something he couldn't quite put his finger on. He rolled over again, trying to see if it was more comfortable on his side, but even as he did it he knew it was a futile gesture; he may as well turn himself on his head for all the good it would do. _What is it; there's something I want but can't name, I…_; there was a sudden sound and Knuckles sat up in bed – to see the thing he needed stood in his doorway.

"Umm, Knuckles?"

_Is this really the right thing to do?_ Rouge smiled shyly as she stood before the door to Knuckles' room; she'd had a long, hard fight with her conscience, reasoning that he had said he'd speak with her in the morning, but in the end that had been found wanting. She had some questions she needed answering, and she needed him to answer them now. Breathing lightly and feeling awkward and embarrassed, Rouge mustered her courage and slowly pushed the door open, the slight creak it made hideously loud in her ears, almost drowning out her furious heartbeat. She peeked in to see Knuckles begin to stir; she almost bottled it there and then, but no, she needed her answers and only Knuckles could grant them to her. Standing in the doorway, suddenly cold despite the fact she was wearing quite thick pyjamas, the bat whispered into the semi-darkness,

"Umm, Knuckles?" There was a shuffling and the echidna sat up to regard her; she was suddenly extremely grateful for the late hour and the lack of light obscuring her blush, "heh, sorry, but I…"

"Can't sleep batgirl?" Knuckles finished her sentence for her and smiled ruefully; he threw open one side of his blanket and, just as she had the previous night, patted the side of the bed gently, "I know how you feel, I can't either; come on in". _Whew, thank goodness_; Rouge smiled back at her partner as she walked over the thick carpet and sat down on the edge of the mattress, swinging her legs in as Knuckles threw the blanket back over the both of them. The resultant combined warmth was delicious, but even more so was the sense of belonging; the fact that in a rapidly changing environment, both treasure hunters could rely on the other for a feeling of stability. Rouge hitched herself a little closer to the echidna as Knuckles looked up, heeding the fact that she probably hadn't come here just for the companionship, though it was welcome and nice.

"Knuckles…"

"Rouge…" Both Mobians paused, looked at each other across the pillow and started to chuckle; comic timing at its most perfect. Fortunately, at least in her eyes, Rouge managed to recover first,

"Ladies first, I think you said earlier", she reached under the cover and held the paw nearest to her, "how does it feel Knucks; you can tell me, I've had family issues in the past too". The bat saw him face the ceiling and close his eyes, though more importantly she felt his hand return the gentle hold,

"I feel so confused".

"About what?"

"Too many things", he sighed quietly, confiding to his closest friend, "first it was just there was something wrong with the Master Emerald and then I find that somehow, my entire race has reappeared for some reason that must be connected to the Master. We get here and I have to register, so I originally feel like a criminal – then things start to get really interesting", Rouge saw his eyes open even as his tone became more forceful, "my mother finds me and we pretty much get on, then she tells me the reason I've been alone for so long", there was an edge of anger that Rouge fully understood in the guardian's voice now as he spoke on, "my father abandons me, and just for good measure breaks my mum's heart in the process, but it's okay now because she can understand why he did it. If I saw him in the street I don't know if I'd break him in half or talk to him".

"I asked myself that for years Knuckles; if I ever saw my dad I mean", Rouge interjected as Knuckles took a deep breath, relieved that he could now speak about these feelings rather than storing them away as he would otherwise have done, "I could never decide – you'll only know if you do see him".

"And hopefully I won't". The guardian sighed as his anger dissipated and he was left with uncertainty; it was pointless to think until his brain hurt, because he knew he'd only see the answer if he saw the problem first. He was quiet for a few seconds before Rouge saw him smile; she then felt the mattress she was resting on quiver as he laughed quietly,

"What's so funny?"

"I can't believe mum's got a boyfriend", Knuckles shook his head as the absurdity of that seemed to sink in a bit, "that just doesn't make sense to me". Rouge managed to bite her lip to stop herself smiling as she saw a genuine opportunity here,

"Let me guess",_ keep the voice business-like – laughing could be disastrous_, "if anyone should have a boyfriend it should be you?"

"Yeah", Knuckles then thought about what the bat had said carefully and his cheeks flamed, ""what, no, I meant…" _Too late!_

Rouge burst out laughing, gently punching the echidna's muscled shoulders as he glared various curses at her silvered tongue,

"Hahaha, classic", the bat mocked, "I'll never be able to see you and Sonic side by side in the same way again". _Oh, dear God no…eeuuuwww!_ Knuckles cringed at the mental image the bat implied and rapidly deduced one thing,

"You die batgirl", he twisted to face her and lashed out; with her legs entangled in the blanket he caught her before she could spring away; she struggled gamely as he drew her in closer to him, quickly deciding on the best way to get his own back; Rouge felt both his arms snake over her wings and froze as he gently pinched the edges of her ears; this could get extremely painful if she wasn't careful. For a second she was completely motionless before, realising he was just holding her, she whispered,

"Knuxie, please don't pull".

"I wouldn't do that", he looked at her reproachfully before grinning evilly, "not when I know a much better way of freaking you out". Before she could second-guess him he started gently moving his pinching fingers and thumbs in a circular motion over the super-sensitive skin of the bat's ears; Rouge gasped and writhed as her mind was flooded with sheer pleasure and she fought to stop her resistance melting like butter on a hot plate; with his arms around her there wasn't even a chance of retreat; she had to either resist or collapse, and with each passing second collapse was looking more attractive.

"Ahhh, K,Knuxie, st,stop".

"Now why would I do that?" he chided, chuckling at her ambivalent expression of pleasure and would-be fury,

"B,because, ehehehe, I want to, to ahhhssk you someth,thing".

"Ask away". Rouge broke from the haze long enough to plan her question; asking, it, however, with Knuckles still driving her crazy with his gentle massaging of her ears, was a different matter,

"Why did yoohhohou, let meehe, me stay w,with you to,to,twoohhooo?" Much to her eventual relief, the echidna stopped teasing her ears and, as she recovered, looked at her questioningly,

"What do you mean Rouge?"

"I mean", _I think I know, but please, please tell me I'm right_; the bat looked him dead in the eye, "I was going to leave you and your mother in private; why did you stop me like that?" Knuckles smiled at her gently,

"Rouge, do you remember what I said to you on the first day you came onto this island properly?" She shook her head honestly; he'd said a lot of things and he'd repeated most of them several times; they were mostly to do with safety and thing she should and should not do to stay safe on Angel Island. Knuckles tightened his hold a little as he saw her answer and reminded her of, in his eyes, his most important declaration of that day,

"I said that whatever was mine is yours as well", he continued as realisation shone into her mind like a solar torch, "I've just found out I have a family; I know it's not perfect but, if you want to be, you can be part…"

Knuckles never had the chance to finish; Rouge had heard only the first part of his reasoning and needed to hear no more. Similarly to the start of the day, two pairs of lips locked fully and the two Mobians shared their passion ferociously; Rouge desperate to thank the echidna for offering, no, he was giving her something, something she had lost through no fault of her own and feared she would never recover; a family to belong in. As the kiss ended, Rouge threw both her arms around Knuckles and drew herself in close, eyes starry with tears,

"Thank you Knuckles", he held her comfortingly in kind, stroking her wings as he had so many times before; feeling it and even more grateful, the bat continued, "I, just…thank you…" she couldn't finish what she wanted to say, but there was no need – of all the Mobians alive in the world, Knuckles was possibly the only one who could truly understand what she was feeling,

"You know the pleasure's all mine Rouge". Their embrace lasted, even as consciousness slipped away; in each other's arms, Rouge the Bat and Knuckles Echidna finally knew peace enough to sleep deeply and without discomfort.

_The green was first – this much is certain. The green gave birth to the others, the brighter ones, then was the pain, and then the red, the red that should be mine. But the others are mine also, mine and another's; they were fashioned but not completely. Much is remembered, but still more forgotten. No matter; time is plenty before morning comes._


	14. Chapter 13 Locke and Key

Chapter 13 – Locke and Key.

A/N: Right, the story's now about three-fifth's of the way through approximately; sorry to keep you on tenterhooks as to what the being actually is (especially you Sonicron), but you know what they say – treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen. Keep on reviewing please – hopefully, if the good reviews keep coming, once this fic's finished, I can get started on the next one in the series…

Argh; mean to upload this on Monday (British time) – the site wouldn't let me log on! Sometimes I find myself agreeing with you Komodo – web administrators are the mortal servants of Lucifer himself.

The morning saw a rather unusual situation; Knuckles slept on peacefully, the lines of worry often prominently displayed by a scowl or grimace smoothed out by restful slumber and the touch of a loved one's hand. _He offered me his family_; Rouge gently caressed one of the red echidna's many dreadlocks, expression peculiarly halfway between a heartfelt smile and deep, penetrating thought about what he had said the previous night; _if you want to be, you can be a part – hmm, maybe I should have let him finish that, nah!_ The bat closed her eyes slowly, an idea that had been half-formed in the back of her mind for some time now solidifying more into a distinct probability with the events of the previous evening. It remained this way for a little while longer, Rouge massaging her partner's shoulder and hair, until Knuckles mumbled and then arose from his dreams. Slowly opening his eyes, the echidna found himself gazing into Rouge's aqua eyes even as his hand subconsciously found her own, immobilising it to stop the gentle sensations that had penetrated his fur.

"Morning Knucks" the bat spoke softly, freeing her hand as the echidna turned away to yawn and stretch fully; when he could finally managed a reply without giving the bat an in-depth view of his tonsils, Knuckles turned back and smiled blearily,

"Morning", throwing back the covers he slid out of bed, sliding his feet into his shoes with pin-point accuracy – the result of over a decade of continual practice. As he readied himself for the effort of forcing his legs to carry his not inconsiderable bodyweight, Rouge suddenly realised something,

"Umm, Knuckles", she couldn't meet his gaze as he turned to look down at where she was still snuggled warmly under the blanket, licking her lips in embarrassment as she realised she had almost been literally caught with her pants down, "I, er, I need you to do me a favour".

"Can't you get dressed first?"

"No, that's just the point", she couldn't stop herself smiling as she elaborated, "I gave my suit to the dry-cleaners, dummy; what am I going to wear?" _Don't say it_; Knuckles resisted the urge to point out she always had one particular suit to fall back to on the grounds it might get him pounded flat; instead, he settled for laughing quietly as the bat scowled at him with her eyes narrowed,

"So, what will you do now, oh mighty queen of this region of Angel Island; it wouldn't do for her Majesty to wander around in pyjamas". Rouge smiled grudgingly at the joke from the day before last rekindled,

"I'm not going to do anything; my faithful echidna dogs-body is going to do it for me"; Knuckles raised a most sceptical eyebrow as she elaborated, "there's a ticket on the drawer in my room; take it to the laundry room and they should give you my suit – you might need to pay a small fee but…" Knuckles cut her off with a strangled snort of protest,

"Excuse me!" He folded his arms and glared down, looking completely gob-smacked as Rouge hid a smile, guessing what he was going for, "I need to pay to get your suit cleaned – the logic of that is, where exactly?"

"It is", Rouge slyly rose onto her knees, the blanket falling away from her body as she put a seductive twinkle into her eye, "in the fact that, if you don't, I'm going to meet your mother and her boyfriend in these sweet red P.J's, unless you want me to…" Knuckles knew full well what Rouge was capable of in this kind of mood and took off out the door with almost indecent haste,

"I'llberightback"; when she was sure he wouldn't hear her, Rouge collapsed back on the bed laughing; _typical Knucklehead – he still hasn't got it into his head that I'm only joking…most of the time anyway._

A short while later, Knuckles was waiting for the bat to finish in the shower; at her shouted command, he had managed to open the bathroom door a crack and, flushing madly and with his eyes closed, hang the suit he had recovered on the back of the bathroom door. Rouge had said the shower curtain was opaque, but he wasn't sure he remembered completely and, well…his insides wriggled unpleasantly as he thought of what he may had glimpsed if he'd opened his eyes. With a click and a rush of moist, steamy air, Rouge emerged onto the main lounge, still towelling around her damp ears to try and get rid of the last traces of moisture; though normally not much of a problem, the biting cold of the winter breezes left her larger and thinner skin surfaces much more susceptible to wind chill than most other Mobians.

"Just you left Knucks; I'll order something to eat", she held up a single hand as he made to point out he didn't think he needed a shower, "you want to look your best for your mum, don't you?" _Good point_;

"Nice idea, and thanks", he slid over to her as she perused the menu they had used the previous evening, turning towards the breakfast section; she paused as he put his hand on her shoulder, "I'm glad you and her got on so well". She took hold of one of his spurs and shook slightly, worrying it like a puppy with a bone,

"It's a woman thing; mothers tend to like it when their son brings a respectable young lady home".

"Really", Knuckles made a bit of a show of looking confused, "so why did she like you so much?"

"What, you…" The resounding slam of the bathroom door drowned out the bat's next exclamation; probably a good thing in hindsight as it was short, sharp and most certainly unbecoming of a respectable young lady.

Lara-Le waited in the foyer of the Promenade, waiting as patiently as possible for her son and his partner to appear from upstairs; she just about managed to look calm and composed and, she hid a smile, much more so than the tall, brown furred echidna sat next to her. Wynmacher, or Wyn to all his friends – which, as far as Lara could tell, was pretty much anyone who knew him, was shifting about nervously and fiddling with the cuffs of his jacket.

"Stop it", as he glanced over, Lara took hold of his hand and restrained it gently, smiling, "don't worry Wyn, I'm sure you'll get on fine".

"Sorry Lara, but er, wow", the taller echidna had a nervous grin on his face as he looked sheepishly at her, "I'm spending the day with the guardian and I'm currently dating his mother; I'd better be on my best behaviour or I'm going to end up sucking spurs".

"Wyn!" Lara glared at her partner even as she fought to iron her lips in a straight line, "Knuckles would never…" He chortled and patted her shoulder,

"I know Lara; if he's anything like you I wouldn't be surprised if he's never used his spurs in his life".

"Flatterer"; Lara smiled as she relaxed more; somehow, ever since she'd met Wyn, she'd felt more, more – it was strange, she couldn't quite name what he made her feel; the nearest she could get to it was 'appreciated' but she knew that wasn't right; Locke had appreciated her too, but that was before…

"Lara?" A large paw waved in front of her face caused her to shudder slightly and come back to herself, "hello in there, are you receiving?"

"Oh, sorry Wyn, I was, er, lost in thought". The brown echidna chuckled gently and nodded forwards, towards the stairs,

"Well, you better start thinking about introducing us, because unless my eyes have gone the same way as my knees I reckon that's Knuckles".

_It's alright_; from where he was stood the guardian could see there was another echidna, taller and with darker fur than his mother and even himself, sat next to her and seemingly talking away merrily. Much like Rouge the previous evening, he had to grapple down a sudden spike of hot jealousy and anger – who did that stranger think he was going after _his_ mother? He stood still and took a deep breath, Rouge just behind him, waiting to be introduced, letting the primal instinct drain away, beaten by the memories of what his mother had told him the previous evening; _he makes her happy – if I should be angry with anyone it aught to be my father_. With a slight sigh, Knuckles refocused and smiled as his mother caught sight of him.

"Hey Knuckles", Lara smiled over at her child and stood up, moving over to greet him as the other echidna he assumed to be Wynmacher followed; the guardian noticed with a concerned look that he appeared to walk with a very slight limp on his left leg.

"All right mum", he tenderly embraced her again, stooping slightly to let her hug his neck comfortably as Rouge and Wynmacher watched on; the hold was brief as Knuckles stepped back and regarded the brown furred echidna before giving a wintry smile and extending his hand,

"I take it you're Wynmacher"; the older echidna smiled back and shook, noting the guardian's firm grip as he answered with his normal display of breezy charm,

"Only to my family and my boss", as Knuckles cocked his head confused, Wyn smiled, "everyone else calls me Wyn".

"Fair enough then; Wyn, I'd like you to meet Rouge the Bat – a very close friend of mine". _Lucky you_; Wyn kept his face blank as he accepted an extended hand from the former government employee, Rouge herself smiling slightly as she accepted the casual once over he gave her,

"Rouge, my pleasure".

"Likewise"; _he's a bit formal – nerves maybe?_ Though she was by and large a loner, Rouge's former employment demanded a rudimentary ability to read people and right now she guessed Wynmacher was sweating bullets, though to give him credit he was trying to hide it. Once the introductions were taken care of, Lara decided to get the ball rolling,

"Well, we'd better get going", she began to move off and was relieved to see everyone following her lead, Rouge and Wyn especially having seemed to hit it off well enough as she headed for her first chosen destination.

_So it's true_; watching on from his concealed position behind a street corner a raised newspaper, the echidna tasked with verifying the sudden rumours of a guardian appearing within Echidnopolis saw an echidna with the crest of guardianship leave the hotel, accompanied by three others, another two of which he was also familiar with. Biting back a snarl and swallowing his apprehension and anger, the watcher turned to leave, reporting back to the other interested ears that awaited his return.

"Sorry Wyn"; the guardian's voice broke into his companion's thought; Wynmacher looked over mildly as Knuckles did his best not to look down, "I couldn't help noticing – you, um, something wrong with your leg?" To Knuckles' relief the older echidna smiled and spoke back to him levelly,

"Yeah, I had a bit of an accident a little while back but I suppose overall I should be grateful – you know your mother's a nurse?"

"You met her in hospital?" Knuckles' quick mind allowed him to see where Wyn was going with this,

"Yep, got it in one", Wyn smiled as Rouge leaned in to hear about this, "I was training for a sky-ball game and fell badly, smashed the knee joint completely – my own fault like, it was a decent tackle. Lara was one of the ones who helped put me back together and, well, we got talking and things just went from there". The elder echidna flicked his eyes to Lara before continuing in a conspiratorial whisper,

"Luckily the echidna body responds well to staples and glue". _Oh no_; Lara span around from where she'd been talking to Rouge and glared open-mouthed at her boyfriend,

"Wyn, you said you wouldn't tell them that!"

"Sorry, couldn't resist", he beamed back as Rouge and Knuckles looked at him expectantly, "you want to say it or shall I?" Shooting him with a filthy look the female echidna gave an impatient wave of her hand, beginning to blush again as Wyn rubbed his hands together in glee,

"Well, after I'd had surgery to try and piece my knee back together, I had my leg in a cast; now that was undignified I can tell you – laid flat on my back with my leg suspended in the air, it was not a pretty sight…"

"I'll vouch for that" Lara chipped in, drawing a baleful stare from Wyn as not even Knuckles could stop himself smiling at the mental image; Rouge was forced into a coughing fit to limit the extent of her laughter,

"…yes, well, as your mother was on the rounds one day I heard this cracking noise from my leg; I look down and see this crack smiling back at me, spreading downwards. Now I'm not a doctor, but I guessed that's probably not a good thing, so I call over to Lara and she takes a look. Just my luck the ward was out of plaster, so there I am watching this thing grow downwards and waiting for the cast to crack open. Just as well Lara's able to think on her feet; next thing I know she's at my bedside with a roll of cello-tape and a staple gun". Lara smiled reluctantly as Rouge teetered on the brink of collapse, her brain buzzing with the sheer slapstick nature of the scene Wynmacher was describing; the way he was able to tell it with a straight face was a gift and no mistake. Knuckles felt his earlier reservations to this rangy, brown furred echidna start to slip away as, smiling broadly, he had to speak,

"So, my mum stopped the cast breaking and saved your leg".

"Well, nearly", Wyn rubbed the back of his head as Lara shook hers and tapped her foot, imagining what she could do to get him to make up for embarrassing her like this in front of her son, "okay, the cast was wrapped up nicely, but just as I was breathing a sigh of relief the bit of string holding it up snaps and down it comes".

"That shouldn't have hurt; it was wrapped in plaster" Knuckles pointed out as Wyn grimaced,

"It came right down on my good one", that was it for Rouge, the bat laughed out loud as Knuckles winced with a smile on his face, imagining the scenario perfectly as Wyn elaborated, "half a hundredweight of plaster plus a leg, and when the leg's one of mine that's no laughing matter. So there I was for three days with both of them up in the air".

"Not for the first time I'll bet; sorry, sorry, but", Rouge bit down on her sniggers as all three echidnas looked over at her with expressions ranging from incredulity to long-suffering experience, "you walked right into that one". Knuckles turned to Wyn, not surprised to see he was chuckling at the bat's quip; if nothing else, the guardian reasoned, he had a sense of humour,

"Forgive my partner Wyn; I'll fish her mind out of the sewer at some stage I promise".

"Don't worry, I've heard worse and anyway, Lara told me a story last night in the car involving you two, a bed and suitable restraints – care to comment on that Rouge?" The bat quit laughing as she rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Lara, who smiled back and decided to call it quits there.

"Well, you met Lara in hospital, I met Knuckles and for the first six months at least we were continually trying to put each other in hospital, but anyway, I just remembered", with a flash of insight the bat recalled something that had crossed her mind the previous evening, "I don't suppose there's an echidna called Teri-Le in your family is there Lara?" The female raised an eyebrow for a second before shaking her head,

"Umm, no, no I don't think so; why do you ask?" Knuckles answered for his partner as she light-heartedly teased Wynmacher for leaving himself open for a joke like that.

"We were introduced to this city by Teri-Le – we just wondered if he was some kind of relation of mine – if so I'd have to go and see him at some stage".

"No he's not part of my family, but Le's not an uncommon name – probably just a coincidence. Anyway, enough of that", she brought herself up short as she came to the first port of call for the day, "we're here".

It was what appeared to be a large store, specialising in clothing for all shapes and sizes. Shopping wasn't one of Knuckles' favourite past-times, but the knowledge his mother had chosen something that Rouge would certainly enjoy for a little while gave him a real sense of joy; his family seemed to be getting on together, and for that he could bear to languish in here for a bit.

"Nice idea mum", he began, not glancing behind him as she glowed with pride; he spoke next to Rouge as she drank in the sight of the clothes shop, "you better start thinking of ways to butter me up if you want anything brought batgirl". Rouge began to formulate a counter before Lara spoke up again, looking at Knuckles hard,

"And you Mr – you're going to pick something to wear too".

_What_; the look on his face was priceless; Wyn felt himself begin to laugh as he tried to begin an argument already doomed to failure,

"But, but mum, I'm fine as I am…" She approached and shook her head, putting her hand on his shoulder,

"No son of mine's going around in this weather without something decent on; now come on, just play along and this should be relatively painless".

"But…" Rouge glanced upwards; _thank you Lara – I've been trying to get him into a decent clothes shop for as long as I can remember_; Knuckles felt a hand on his other shoulder and glanced around with a sinking feeling to see Rouge smiling at him in a manner that made his knees go weak.

"Don't argue with your mother Knuckles; it's not good for you and hopeless to boot. Now come on", she exerted a push on the reluctant form of the echidna, "let's go". Knuckles dug in his heels, desperate to buy some time as the two females dragged him inexorably forwards,

"Hey, wait a sec, I'm fine as I am, I don't need any clothes; Wyn, help me out here". The other male held up a hand and laughed slightly at the struggle unfolding before his eyes,

"Leave me out of this"; he followed on, slightly behind the main group, chuckling as the guardian was virtually frog-marched into the store by the combined pressure of his mother and his girlfriend.

"It's true", the figure spoke softly to another echidna, almost lost in the darkness of the room he was sat in due to his fur colour; only by his enhanced senses could the speaker pick out his host, "the guardian has arrived in the city".

"As I suspected", the answering voice was deep and powerful, much like the echidna who answered the younger observer, "you know what you have to do?"

"I do".

"Are you sure you want to Locke? I know you still feel…"

"I know my own mistakes", the younger echidna snapped back, heedless of the slight growl his raised voice caused, though to his credit he managed to rein in his emotion before continuing, "I owe Knuckles the truth, and, I would like to see my son again".

"Then go sixth-son, and with haste", there was a rustling from ahead of Locke as the other echidna turned the pages of the book he was reading, scanning it for clues, "the time is here, we must speak with Knuckles to try and find the truth".

"As you wish grandfather", Locke turned to leave before a slight trip of curiosity pricked his interest, "has anyone else had any luck with…"

"No sixth-son, we have not", the vice was angrier now, as though explaining something to an obstinate child, "that is why we must talk to the guardian – we need all the information we can get". Locke inclined his head and turned to leave, hearing as he did the same line he and the others here had repeated together and individually ever since the shift had occurred,

"From destiny ascending, the gem of blood calls the child of thorns to release that which was bound and culminate the cataclysm".

"Get the feeling we've been diddled here?"

"I know what you mean"; Knuckles shrugged and reclined further back in his seat, waiting outside the changing booths for both Lara-Le and Rouge to re-emerge in the clothes they'd been eyeing up. The jacket Knuckles had been pretty much press-ganged into trying on was currently resting on the back of his chair; though he didn't want to admit it, the rough leather jacket had proved surprisingly comfortable against his fur. _Plus_; he had to hide a devious smile from where Wynmacher was glancing up at the unmoving curtains of the booths, _worst comes to worst, I can always stash it in my cabin – mum'll never know_. He broke off his thinking as the clinking of the metallic rings holding the curtains up slid long their pole and Wyn let out an appraising whistle,

"Very nice, both of you". Though he'd be the first to admit he wasn't exactly a follower of the catwalk fashions, Knuckles found himself agreeing with the elder echidna's statement. Lara-Le was dressed in a green dress that looked a bit like a sari, the colour of the material mirroring the bottle green of her bright eyes. She shuffled nervously as Wyn smiled and nodded his approval, blushing under his generous eye; however, Knuckles' attention was focussed elsewhere – Rouge had chosen a slightly different type of dress and stood in front of him expectantly, waiting for the verdict he would surely deliver as soon as he stopped trying to catch flies with his dropped jaw.

The bat was wearing a long dress the shade of dawn's deepest blue that highlighted her natural physique perfectly; whilst highlighting all the positive characteristics nature had given her, it was demure enough to be considered sophisticated and most certainly elegant. Rouge chuckled as its dazzling effects seemed to have robbed Knuckles of the power of speech and she gave a slight twirl, showing the cut-away back that, incidentally, allowed her wings the freedom they needed to flex; the main reason the bat hardly ever wore garments such as this was that they forced her wings uncomfortably close to her back – staying in a dress all night was absolute murder on her shoulder blades.

"Well, what do you think?" _I should really say something here_;

"What, err, umm", Knuckles tried, desperately tried, to find the words that could encapsulate how utterly divine Rouge looked at that second, but there was nothing, no language in his repertoire that could even come close, "you look…err".

"Terrific?" Wynmacher suggested casually from the side-lines, watching on in amusement as the younger echidna was tied in knots by this new side of his partner.

"Yeah, that's a good word" Knuckles gabbled desperately; _not the right one though, what the hell could I say?_ Rouge smiled as the echidna in front of her began to regain some of his self-control; she'd expected something like this to happen, one of the reasons she'd chosen this particular dress to show off in – Knuckles was so cute when he was overawed.

"That dress suits you perfectly Rouge", the bat looked over as Lara inspected her new dress casually, "you've got the figure for it", she gently tapped the side of her head with a single finger as though trying to remember something, "there was a time when I had a decent figure, now how long ago was that?"

"Don't be silly Lara; you've got a wonderful body".

"You would say that".

"Yeah", he put on a sly, shifty smile, "because I want to see more of it".

"Wynmacher! Not in front of the kids". There was a snort of laughter from the booth Rouge had re-entered to change back as Knuckles grinned broadly, liking Wyn more as the day went on; anyone who made his mother laugh as often as he did had to be worth respect in his eyes,

"Trust me mum, I've heard and probably said much worse", when a pair of curious glances fixed on him he elaborated, "it's the best way for us to get our own back on the rest, especially Sonic".

"Who's Sonic?"

"A friend of ours", Rouge's disembodied voice floated over to them and, at those words, Lara felt her hopes for Knuckles rise even higher; _he managed to have friends during his exile – he can't be as cold as the others if he had contact_, "we'll tell you all about him and the others when we're done here".

"Good, I'd be glad to hear about them, now", she fixed Wyn with a steely glare, his attempt to look innocent quashed immediately as she uttered her next decree, "after that little comment you better figure out a way to weasel yourself back into my good books".

"Already done", he smiled cheerfully, "would a four person table at my restaurant qualify?" Lara pursed her lips a little before giving a reluctant smile,

"Just about; now I'll quickly go and get changed and we'll head there next, it's nearly time to eat as it is".

"You work in a restaurant?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow; from his build, he had assumed Wyn had a more active job that that, though, he reasoned, his leg must have been a hindrance in active pursuits. The brown echidna nodded as Lara retreated to get changed back into her normal clothes,

"Yeah, I'm a chef; I help service the most well-known place to eat in all of Echidnopolis". With a dramatic flourish, Rouge exited the changing area and threw herself into a seat next to Knuckles, the dress she had tried on folded over one arm.

"We'll be the judges of that I'm sure", she turned to Knuckles next, "so, what do you think of this?" The echidna looked smug as he leisurely folded his arms behind his head and gave a self-satisfied grin,

"I think you need to start pleading if you want me to get it for you batgirl". Sensing an opportunity here, Wyn stood up and quickly excused himself,

"Just keep an eye out for Lara, I won't be long. Got to get something for myself while there's a bit of a lull". As the younger Mobians nodded and Rouge began the long, torturous road of convincing Knuckles that he really did want to treat her to that really, really attractive dress, the elder echidna shook his head and quickly headed for where he needed to go.

In another part of Echidnopolis, Locke approached a building he knew all too well, preparing himself mentally to fend off the demons of his past, the memories that flitted in and out of his mind like cruel, spiteful imps. _The past is a ghost that haunts us forever_; a grim, bitter smile twisted the echidna's face, the cares and worries of fighting and eventually losing the battle of duty against emotion etched plainly on the skin under his red fur, making him look far older than he actually was. Still, his duty was not yet fulfilled, if anything it had just become more important over the last few days; something was dangerously out of balance and if he could do anything that may help to redress the situation, he would do it, no matter the cost to himself. With that thought in mind, Locke strode up to the door in front of him, the key that would unlock it already in his hand; with the barest of quivers, he inserted the steel key and turned it slowly, the sound of the bolt sliding back within the lock echoing in his head. _This is it; I wait here for them to return_ – with a push and effort of will, Locke opened the front door and stepped inside the hallway of his old home. Though he had been here before since he had lost Lara-Le, under the circumstances that had recently arisen, the cauldron of memories bubbled up by entering this place was more potent than most; a tear slid from the corner of his eye as he remembered the true cost of his folly.

"So, let me see if I'm getting this right", Lara-Le dipped half of her bread roll into the spicy gravy and juice that had been left after she had eaten the mussels Wyn had ordered for her, "Sonic is a blue hedgehog who can run really fast; he can break the sound barrier if he really tries hard", at Knuckles' encouraging nod she continued, "he's also got a younger brother, but they're not technically related because he's a fox who has two tails and can use them to fly for short periods of time – that all good?"

"Yep, that's right so far; I'll have to get hold of our photo album to show you them when I go back to my cabin – I know neither of you will have ever seen a hedgehog or a fox before". Knuckles raised his glass to his lips and nodded his mother to continue as he tasted the light white wine Wyn had taken the liberty of ordering to accompany the meal.

"Okay", _those two sound amazing enough, but this is what I'm really having trouble with_; Lara smiled as Wyn watched on, trying to remember this all without taking notes on his napkin, "now there's also a second hedgehog called Shadow, who's a lot like Sonic but is black and has red eyes; he lives with Sonic because he has amnesia and the doctors say this is the best way of encouraging his memory". Rouge looked a little forlorn at this; though she was the first to admit that Shadow as he was now was a far cry from the cold soul he had been, which in her eyes was a massive improvement all round, she occasionally found herself missing the old Shadow who had been her team mate.

"Yes, though on the whole losing his memory was probably a good thing – he had a lot of pain in his past" she explained delicately as both Lara and Wyn glanced over at her. Fortunately, Wyn was able to recover first and carry on the observations he and his partner had made during the discussion over their meal,

"So now we get to Amy", _I like the sound of her; never gives up from what I can tell_, "she's got a massive crush on Sonic and chases him all over the place, though she's recently stopped that on the advice of her workmate. She also has a massive hammer that she carries around with her", _I'll believe that when I see it_; of all the things he'd so far heard, Wyn was positive this was just a little white lie Rouge had told to try and impress Lara, "and has a close friend in the shape of Cream, a little rabbit who can fly and lives with her mum Vanilla".

"She also knows a cat called Big, for obvious reasons", Rouge raised her hand over her head as she strove to make the other two echidnas realise just how well the purple cat was named, "he likes to fish and lives out in the wilds with his pet frog, though if the fish up here are all as nice as that one, he may well consider moving". As if to emphasise the point, Rouge took her last mouthful of the smoked catch she'd ordered from the menu and smiled broadly, feeling comfortably full as a waiter moved in to collect the empty plates,

"You and your friends need anything else Wyn?" There was a collective shaking of heads as the brown echidna glanced around; the main course had proved exceptionally filling, far too much for any of the party bar Wyn himself to even consider the prospect of dessert.

"No thanks Jose; I don't know, us chefs go to all that trouble to make a decent meal and would you believe it, no-one even makes it to the pudding course".

"That's because we're not all bottomless pits" Lara reminded him as the waiter moved away, smiling at Wyn's sudden discomfort as he left to fetch the bill. Knuckles glanced outside and, seeing as the wind was picking up, offered his new jacket to Rouge.

"Here, you might need this out there", she followed his gaze enough to see a few flakes of snow drift down into the swirling breeze; it looked chilly, but she reckoned, he'd need it more than she did,

"Nah, I'll be fine", she smirked as she saw exactly what he was offering to her, "aren't you glad your mum forced you to buy a jacket now? I told you before Knucks, mum knows best".

"And don't you forget it young man" Lara chipped in, smiling as Wyn was reminded about something; reaching down into one of his own pockets, he took out something wrapped in a paper bag and pushed it across the table to Knuckles.

"Here".

"What is it?" Knuckles was feeling acutely embarrassed here; he didn't often receive gifts anyway from his close friends except on his birthday and special occasions such as the recently passed Christmas. A present from an almost complete stranger, for no apparent reason at all, was something completely out of the blue for him; he wasn't sure whether he aught to be grateful or abashed as the item slid free of the bag.

"Consider that a security measure", Wynmacher offered as Knuckles turned the wallet over in his paw, "keep your card and cash safe – there's been a lot of improvement, but this city still has occasional problems with vandalism and theft, hence why the EST exists". Knuckles found his tongue at the mention of Echidnopolis's other protectors,

"So I gather, still, they seem capable; I registered as a spike yesterday and I met Remington there, so", there was movement out the corner of his eye and a sudden suspicion flared up in his mind as he saw Rouge chuckle at the mention of the constable, "what's so funny batgirl?" The bat managed to rein in her mirth as she smiled back,

"Oh, nothing"; _I liked Remington as well; he's got good taste in puzzles and the gum was refreshing – just hope he's got a sense of humour_. Lara watched on before seeing the conditions outside start to worsen; the snow was starting to fall and settle in a blanket of whiteness and snowflakes whirled around in the sharpening breeze. As Jose brought the bill, she leant forwards,

"After this we best head for home, my home I mean", she elaborated as Knuckles' face fell; he'd really enjoyed going around with his mother and her partner and didn't want to have to quit because of the weather, "we can just stay there until the snow clears up; worst come to worst I've got two extra beds". There was a rapid agreement to this idea of Lara's and the bill was quickly settled, the foursome wanting to reach the comparative sanctuary of Lara's home before the storm closed in.

Sheltered from the storm that was springing up outside by the four walls he had once called his home, Locke waited from them. There was nothing to betray his feelings as he simply stood at one of the windows and kept watch, awaiting the return of the one he had been forced to abandon, an the one who had left him as a result of that. For a second, his slate grey-blue eyes slid closed, the malignancy of the memories of that terrible day still tormenting him, nearly fourteen years after they had played out before him like an awful pantomime. _With me as the chief villain_; the irony of the analogy was not lost on the scientist as he stood, unmoving, steadfastly refusing to acknowledge the slow, burning sensation of strain in his legs – admitting to such a weakness was unfitting for one with guardian blood in his veins.

The snow and the howling , flensing wind combined to create an eye-watering walk home; though Lara's house wasn't a half-hour walk away under normal circumstances, it certainly felt a lot longer. As they walked, a sudden thought struck Rouge,

"Admit it", Knuckles looked around to see the bat smiling and whisper in his ear again, "momma knew best, didn't she?" Knuckles put on his best sarcastic tone,

"If you're referring to the jacket, you know perfectly well I've faced far worse without the benefit of clothing…"

"Save perhaps a nappy"; Rouge laughed as Knuckles went beet red under his fur; _great, she's seen that photo – another indent of embarrassment in the great pasticine mould of my life_.

"…well, hey, you were a baby once as well you know?"

"Yeah, but I don't let my photos fall into the wrong hands", the ex-spy punched him lightly on the shoulder as he huffed in embarrassment, "don't worry though, as baby snaps go that wasn't too bad". Knuckles replied with a smile that made the air whipping at them seem like a desert draught as Rouge inwardly wondered if Lara had a family album somewhere; now that would be sheer dynamite.

Luckily for the guardian, just before Rouge could start to really get going with her gentle teasing, Lara inadvertently saved her son's bacon by calling out from the front of the group,

"Hey you two, this is it". _Thank goodness_; though he hadn't admitted it, the cold was really starting to get to Wynmacher; his bad leg suffered terribly in the freezing weather as it caused the damaged nerves to start throbbing after a while. Still, he mused, nothing a good half-hour in the warm environment of Lara's domicile couldn't cure – if nothing else she really enjoyed having the central heating on high. He moved slightly ahead of her and politely held the gate open, waiting for the rest to file past and basking gratefully as the warmth of Lara's generous smile chased away the nagging ache of his knee. She reached for her key and shouted over her shoulder,

"Okay, now who wants a…" her voice died as she failed to unlock her door; turning back around to see the key twist impotently, Lara felt the heat leech away from her body as in one horrible instant, she knew why.

Her door was already unlocked, and worse than that, only one other person she knew could have possibly had a key.

Lara removed the key slowly, with almost extraordinary care from its lock, breath taken from her as in the back of her mind she cursed herself for not thinking that he'd have heard of Knuckles reappearing in Echidnopolis. She was still for a few seconds, trying to think through the fog of panic of what she should do now; _I can't let Knuckles see him straight away, I don't even know what he's after…argh, I need more time_.

"Lara", Wyn was perturbed by her unusual hesitance and stepped forwards slowly, "something wrong?"

"Wyn, I, er, I need you to wait here, and you Knuckles, there's something I have to deal with first, inside", she turned to face the trio, trying to put a brave face on her internal trial and tribulation, "I shouldn't be long, just a few minutes; sorry to keep you out in the cold like this but"; she twisted the door handle before her nerve failed her completely and shot inside, closing the door behind her, unable to look at the faces of those she felt she was abandoning as she drew on whatever mental fortitude she had left to face her ex-husband once more.

"What's up with mum?" Knuckles felt a surge of concern for his closest family as Lara jumped inside, Rouge was trying to put herself in the female echidna's position and guess what could have spooked her like that. However, of the three, Wyn was the best placed to make an accurate prediction – with a sudden breath, the brown echidna realised that Lara hadn't unlocked her door and realised that someone must have come calling. _And don't I just know what about_; his eyes darted to Knuckles instinctively and he breathed a sigh of relief as he realised the guardian hadn't caught the glance. Wyn wasn't sure what to do; he could tell Knuckles his suspicions but that could do more harm than good in the long run, especially as he didn't know what the guardian felt towards his father.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I reckon we should just sit tight and wait; I don't think Lara will be long". As the other two nodded and stood closer together, the older echidna turned back to the door, expression creased in concern as he hoped that, whatever happened inside and regardless of whether his suspicions were correct or not, Lara would make the right choice.

She knew, she instinctively knew, just where he'd be; heck, she even knew how he be standing, what he'd be wearing and probably what tone of voice he'd use on greeting her. _I'm doing this for my son, nothing more_; that thought gave her the courage to push open her kitchen door, her eyes falling naturally on the male echidna already in the room, his main body obscured by his long, white coat and only his spines, the same deep red as Knuckles' own fur, standing out like blood trails as they fanned out over the white material. As always, her first impression of her ex-husband could be summed up in one word – clinical.

"Hello Lara". _Even his voice_; the same haunted, chilled voice he'd had since the divorce and maybe just slightly before it as well. She inclined her head, remembering in the nick of time that, though he still hadn't turned to face her, he could still see her by the reflection in the kitchen window,

"Locke", she took a step forwards, politeness and maybe a sense of foreboding prompting her to ask a question she already knew the answer to, "why are you here?"

"I need to speak to the current guardian".

"His name is Knuckles, Locke", her face split into an ugly sneer as she reminded her former partner, "in case you'd forgotten, you named him". Seemingly stung, Locke finally turned around to face her and despite herself, a tiny flicker of pity lit up in her heart as she regarded the man she had once loved.

If Lara could remember rightly, Locke had been twenty one when they'd married, twenty three when Knuckles had been born and should have been forty one now; however, looking at him as he was she was hard-pressed to believe the facts. She knew by his own admission that guardians aged physically much more slowly than normal echidnas did; judging by his face and physical appearance, Locke hadn't aged a day in the all the time they'd been apart. However, when she looked closer, she realised it was the old saying that was true; the eyes are the window to the soul. Her former husband's eyes were as startling blue as the ice around her home but, she barely repressed a shiver, they were twice as cold as outside; the eyes of someone who had suffered far more than anyone his age should have; the eyes of an old man in a youthful body. It was for that reason that pity, however faint and fleeting it may have been, had tugged at her heart – for a single instant she remembered that Locke had loved her, had broken down completely when she had demanded a divorce and had never really been the same; indirectly, she was the reason for his old age. Then she recalled what he had taken from her, the callous, cowardly way he had failed to tell her the truth about the role of a guardian's wife and hurt her grievously because of it, and her heart hardened once more.

"I did, and it was and is a good name", he completed his inspection of her face, realising that once more she was happy and, unlike last time, it had nothing to do with him or his actions; he hid the pain that caused behind a veneer of neutrality, "but until he recognises me as his father, if he chooses to, I can't use it".

"You're afraid he'll reject you", Lara put her hands on her hips as the irony of the situation wasn't lost on her, "why's that Locke; afraid to get hurt – you didn't seem to be last time". The darker hued echidna drew a deep breath at the grim reminder,

"If he did reject me, I wouldn't blame him; I take it you told him?"

"If you mean I told him that you abandoned him to fulfil your damn obligations to the guardian code, yes I told him that. He deserved the truth".

"I was expecting nothing less"; _this will be even more difficult than I feared; Knuckles will probably hate me, but then again, he should – after my actions, hate is all I should expect_; Locke gave a small, weary smile, "I would explain to him what those obligations were, and why I had no choice in my actions". _You had a choice, you just couldn't bear to make it_; Lara hid her contempt as she tried to confirm her suspicions,

"So why are you here Locke; this isn't just some social call is it, you're after something, I can tell. What is it?" _I won't lie to you, not again_; for a split-second, his expression softened and a tiny hint of colour infiltrated the otherwise clear tone of his voice,

"I came to offer an invitation to Knu…the current guardian", he caught himself just in time as his former partner narrowed her eyes, faint danger signals now flashing up in her mind, "myself and the others would like to speak to him at Haven; we have much to discuss…"

"No".

"Lara, please".

"No", she repeated, more forcefully this time as she saw the hidden meaning in his words and came out and said it, "you took him once, you won't do it again, not while I'm here". Locke gave a deep sigh and tried to keep his temper; losing his cool wouldn't help the cause now,

"That isn't true and you well know it Lara-Le; even if I did want to take Knuckles I doubt I could. You must understand, things are badly out of balance and if we don't pool our information with the guardian's we could all be lost", he was breaking through, but he had to speak the truth as well; dropping his mask of scientific precision, the former guardian spoke softly, looking deeply into her bottle green eyes, the same eyes that he had lost himself in so many years ago, "and, I would, like to see my son, face to face, not at a distance as I have for years". Internally he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw her grant a tiny nod that spoke volumes to someone who knew her as well as he did,

"Alright Locke, you may see him, but listen to me now", her entire posture changed from one of reception to one of bloody-minded maternal desire to protect her child; she didn't even have to raise her voice, her body language did all the shouting for her, "if I even suspect at any stage this is some kind of trick, no matter how many powers that blasted green stone gives you I will make you suffer". _Nothing you do could come close to the suffering I inflicted on myself Lara, through my own stupidity and cowardice_;

"I swear it's just a talk; nothing will happen, I promise". Lara turned to leave, to open the door to the others waiting outside, Locke likewise turned back to his original position before her voice stopped him; it wasn't maliciously said, but the sheer, undeniable truth in the statement crashed into the former guardian harder than any form of verbal abuse could have,

"You only ever swore by two promises Locke; you no longer follow your promise to the Master Emerald, and you broke your promise to me".

The front door quivered again and, as Wyn had suspected, it was Lara at the door; from just one look at her face he could tell his earlier suspicions had been right. Her whole stance spoke of the same exhaustion she always seemed to feel when she'd spoken to her ex-husband; Wyn had only ever spoken to Locke once or twice, and even then he doubted they'd exchanged more than a dozen words. All he did in these circumstances was just be a rock for Lara; she had to deal with her past, all he could reasonably do was support her in the present.

"Knuckles", _please, let this be the right thing to do_; Lara shut her eyes for a second, fortifying herself to tell him, "there's, um, there's someone here to see you". The guardian saw the look of worry and angst on his mother's face and tensed, unconsciously readying his body to fight and protect her from whatever might be threatening her before even his quick mind could contemplate who the mysterious visitor could be.

"Someone for…" Lara watched as his eyes flared like a pair of twin purple supernovas as he figured out the likely identity of the visitor, "I see. Well, let's deal with this", he bunched his hands into fists and he flicked a glance at the Mobians surrounding him, "come on; I don't want you all standing in the cold – whatever he's got to say for himself, he can say it to all of you". The others held their piece as Knuckles pushed the door open, Lara whispering directions in his ears as he stopped next to her for a quick second. The red echidna focussed so much on his goal that he actually didn't notice his mother put a restraining hand on Wyn's chest; only Rouge accompanied him as he pushed open the kitchen door and took in the form of Locke.

"Hello father".

A/N: If you've picked up on the little hints I've been dropping, you might be able to guess who's showing up next chapter – we get to meet Knuckle's family on his father's side! Brotherhood madness! Yay!


	15. Chapter 14 Seven Sons of Spectre

Chapter 14 – Seven Sons of Spectre.

A/N: Lots of new characters this chapter, but there's an explanation at the end. In answer Sonicron no, the Brotherhood aren't SATAM (though it would have been hilarious if they were) – they're from the comics, though I don't know which comics. Having never read any comics though, I'm basing my Brotherhood on adapted works from other authors on I don't own the Brotherhood of Guardians; I'll just state that now.

_My son_; Locke had to call on all his natural impassiveness to prevent himself shuddering as the harsh tone washed over him like a tide of barbed wire; he had expected a less than open-armed reception, but the sheer contempt in Knuckles' voice scorched even a heart as inured to pain as his. The die was cast; there was no conceivable way he could back out now, he had to face his responsibility – the fact that it was nearly fifteen years too late just made it fifteen times as hard. Swallowing the sudden ball of worry that had bobbed up in his throat, Locke turned around slowly, much as he had for Lara-Le. The sight before him struck him almost as hard as the news that the guardian had been sighted in Echidnopolis; _my son has grown._

Knuckles looked over at the echidna he instinctively recognised as his father; it was all there, he didn't even need the crest to confirm the relationship between them. _It's like looking in a mirror_; the guardian snarled wolfishly as he realised that thought wasn't quite true – Locke didn't have a patch on him in the physical sense, but more important, Knuckles saw his father's eyes and felt the coldness and sense of numbing that dwelled within them. _The same strength that nearly crippled me_; Knuckles held back the hint of a smile that threatened to show as he realised that his father had fallen into the trap he had so narrowly avoided; Locke had broken his own heart, or had it broken for him, to try and block out the pain of the world and connecting to the people within it. Only the intervention of his friends in general and Rouge in particular had stopped that happening to him, and only then by the slimmest of margins, but he had emerged from his trial by fire a much stronger Mobian for it, and he hadn't come through it alone. Knuckles flicked his eyes sideways, just catching the silhouette of Rouge in his peripheral vision and he relaxed slightly more, comfortable in the knowledge that he could handle anything Locke could throw at him as long as he had Rouge to back him up. He kept his face passive as Locke, unable to bear the burgeoning tension in the room any longer, made the first move. Speaking in a quiet, almost tentative voice, the older echidna addressed the current guardian,

"Knuckles", he took a single step forwards, no more, as he saw his son's eye narrow and decided against closing the distance any further, "you don't mind if I call you that do you?" There was a contemptuous snort as Knuckles folded his arms,

"It's my name isn't it, or had you forgotten that; it's been a long time".

"Thirteen years, ten months and fourteen days…"

"Been keeping count?" _I do not believe this – he abandons me and keeps a detailed record of how long for – why?_; instinctive curiosity welled up in Knuckles' mind as he continued, "what for Locke?" The older echidna cocked his head even as a faint smile crossed his lips; Knuckles at least had the mindset for a true guardian of the Master Emerald.

"…I counted the days until we could bring you back".

That sentence nearly did it; from his words, Knuckles quickly managed to deduce that Locke must have had some method of undoing what he had done, both to him and to his mother and his fury rose up in an all-consuming, blinding cloud of cinders. Growling dangerously, Knuckles advanced, guard raised, until he and Locke were almost nose to nose; unless his father chose his next words with exquisite care, Knuckles reasoned, the EST's decision for cataloguing all echidnas with spurs would be validated in the most ataractic manner.

"You could have stopped it Locke, why the hell didn't you? You hurt my mother, you left me in the wild to fend for myself, and I can see you even hurt yourself doing it – I want to know why, or…"

"Or what Knuckles?", Locke spat back; they were stood so close that Knuckles could even scent the other echidna's breath as it ruffled the sparse fur on his muzzle, "you'll hit me; I wouldn't blame you and I doubt I could stop you", Locke's eyes roved over his son's muscular frame, though he was careful to keep any hint of challenge out of his voice; it was a simple statement rather than a dare, "but I trust you're not that stupid". Luckily for Locke, Rouge had just about seen enough by this point; stepping forwards soundlessly, she put a hand on the back of Knuckle's arm, keeping out the way in case the tension in the meeting room caused him to snap. The contact was enough; the anger coursing through his veins seemed to earth and Knuckles took a breath, slowly bringing his guard down and letting his tongue, rather than his fists, do the talking,

"You trust me right; the only thing I'd like more than to beat the truth out of you is to hear you admit it. So, here seems like a good enough time to start".

"It isn't", Locke cut in, shaking his head as Knuckles and Rouge both looked on curiously, "this is the reason I'm here Knuckles; I'm to invite you, and it is an invitation, to come back to see the rest of your family", _I should tell him the truth; this won't just be a social call_; Locke straightened slightly as he continued, "they're curious about both you and the Master".

Knuckles scratched his chin with a single gloved hand as the irony of the situation touched him; he had more family but to visit them he needed to strike a proverbial devil's bargain. However, the second clause was what really grabbed his attention,

"What do you know about the Master?"

"We know it's out of balance", Locke leaned forwards, dropping his voice so it wouldn't carry to the area where Lara-Le and Wynmacher could accidentally overhead them, "something isn't right Knuckles; as the guardian it's your duty to…" Anger flashed back up in the younger echidna and he glared venomously at his father,

"I know my duty; you introduced me to it in a most thorough way", Locke flinched, but Knuckles didn't seem to notice as he carried on, "if you can help me understand why this is happening, I have to go with you". Locke inclined his head but Knuckles held up one hand, a twisted smirk on his lips as he held up two fingers,

"But, there are two conditions I want met before I'll agree to this little visit". _He doesn't trust me completely, I should not blame him and, these conditions should be interesting_; Locke licked his upper lip before speaking again, acutely aware that his grandfathers were relying on him to bring Knuckles with him; if he had to agree to a few things first, they should understand that.

"Go on then; name them".

"First", Knuckles glared at him piercingly, "when we get there, you are going to start answering some of my questions". Despite himself Locke smiled a little, though there was precious little warmth in it; _he is definitely my son all right_.

"I'd expected nothing less; the second?" Knuckles cast a look slightly behind him just before he spoke,

"Rouge comes with us".

Both other Mobians looked at the guardian suddenly as he made that declaration; Rouge in both disbelief and an explosion of gratitude as she realised what he had said last night hadn't just been an idle promise; he had meant it when he had said she could share his family, the good and the bad together, like any family was in truth, no matter how perfect it appeared on the surface. Locke, on the other hand, regarded first his son and then the other Mobian he recognised as a bat from his period of guardianship with alarm; _it's supposed to be a secret, can I truly trust either of them – maybe I can offer a compromise_;

"She goes blindfolded".

"She sees what I see", Knuckles was adamant, challenging his father openly, "that's not up for discussion". _Why's he so worried; what doesn't he want her to see – can I see it only because I'm a guardian?_ Locke was silent for a few seconds, totting up the advantages and disadvantages of letting one who was not a guardian know possibly the second best-kept secret of Angel Island before decided he could risk it; he and the others needed to communicate with Knuckles and know what he knew, it was the only way they could hope to solve this mystery before it was too late.

Lara waited silently, Wynmacher in close proximity as the voices from the kitchen fell strangely silent; the brown echidna felt slightly more relaxed that the explosion of fisticuffs he'd been dreading hadn't erupted, at least, not yet. Lara had her head down and was mumbling something softly under her breath, though as the door to the kitchen creaked quietly open, her hand snapped upwards in time to see Locke emerge, looking slightly less impassive than he had done earlier; the bottom dropped out of her stomach as she saw Knuckles and read his decision from his face, though she kept a lid on the worst of her feelings for her son's sake.

"Mum", Knuckles saw her head drop and, looking as sincere as it was possible for him to be, slowly lifted her face with one hand, causing their eyes to meet, "it's going to be all right; I'm going with him, of my own choice, and I have Rouge with me; nothing will happen, I promise". For some reason, hearing that from Knuckles was a great deal more reassuring it from Locke; _I want to, but I can never trust him again – some wounds are too deep to be healed_.

"I know Knuckles; you're your own man now – I trust you to make the right choice". Knuckles smiled, hugged her close as he whispered his goodbyes; as he turned to reach for his jacket, Rouge dodged around him and clasped her by the hand,

"Thank you for everything Lara", she checked behind her to make sure Knuckles and Locke were both out of earshot of a low whisper, "if anyone so much as tries anything funny, I'll be all over them like a rash; nothing, and I mean nothing, will happen to your son while I can prevent it".

"Thank you Rouge – it's nice to know there's someone looking out for him, even when I can't". Lara smiled at the bat, even as a few helpless tears trickled into her cheek fur. Rouge offered her best reassuring smile as she stepped back and Knuckles turned to face his father, pointing to the door,

"You know the way; start going?" Locke knew better than to rebuke his son for a lack of respect right under Lara's nose so simply nodded, facing his ex-wife and her partner just as he stepped beyond the threshold of the door,

"Lara", he inclined his head respectfully, hating himself for causing her yet more tears, even though this time it truly couldn't be helped, "Wynmacher"; _that should be me; my own stupidity robbed me…no, it's not about me – if he makes Lara happy, that is all that matters_; Locke managed a strained smile before turning away abruptly, mostly so no-one would see the tears glistening in his own eyes. Rouge followed him quickly, not wanting him out of her sight any longer than was necessary while Knuckles stood before his mother one last time – words once more failed him, so he simply kissed her gently on the cheek, tasting the saltiness of her tears as he swore once this was over, he'd give her no reason to shed any more. When he was sure he'd granted her as much security as he could, he let her go gradually, nodded respectfully to Wynmacher and slowly, ever so slowly, followed his father's lead out of the front door.

All was still for a few more seconds, the dull boom of the door shutting just fading away before Lara could speak again, her normally full voice a flat monotone,

"What did I just do Wyn?" He took her shoulder in his hand, offering the comfort he could, and the words he thought were the truth,

"You did what needed to be done Lara; Knuckles should see both sides of his family, it's the only fair way". He felt her shoulder shake and, pity creasing his face, drew her in towards him, feeling her start to lose control as he held her much like Knuckles had, her choked sobs wracking her with self-recrimination and guilt,

"He took him once, and I couldn't stop him; now I could, and I let him go, I just, let him go!" Wyn tightened his grip, his voice harder now, but still understanding, still providing her with something to focus on,

"Lara, stop that! Knuckles will be fine – you heard him, he has Rouge and he's fully grown now. Locke can't make him do anything he doesn't want to do now – it'll all work out in the end".

"I know", she cried still; knowing what she'd done was right didn't make it any easier to stomach, "I know, but it still hurts – it'll always hurt. The past is something that I don't think can ever heal".

"It will Lara, you know that – time heals all in time", Wyn spoke sagely, pointing at his own leg as an example, "I thought the same thing once; the past left me with a reminder, but I healed from it in the end. At least you have a better reminder than a limp; you have one of the finest young echidnas I've ever had the pleasure to meet to call your son – if anything, you should be proud". She looked up in his arms, smiling through the pain as his words sank in; she'd told Knuckles all she could – she should have expected him to seek his own answers from other sources to make sure he had the whole picture. _Learn what you need Knuckles_; Lara remained silent, supported by her new partner; _find out, and make your own decisions when the time comes._

The journey was quite unremarkable, if a little cold; Locke led the way silently, his streaks of red dreadlocks trailing like bloody streaks down the stark whiteness of his coat. Knuckles walked slightly behind him, questioning in his own mind two separate and co-joined thoughts and what was the best way to go about them and Rouge strode in tandem with him, taut as a wire as Locke began to slow his pace slightly. Eventually, he came to a stop in an area of town they'd never been in and jerked his head sideways,

"Get in; it'll be quicker this way".

"You can drive Locke?" Rouge looked at the elder echidna with a mixture of curiosity and amusement; he faced her with his steel eyes and simply nodded,

"Yes; now hurry – every minute could be precious; I'll answer you when we get there". Knuckles choked off the question he'd been on the verge of asking and nodded instead; _don't even think about weaselling out of this Locke; I'll get the answers I want, one way or another_. Rouge saw his smile as he entered the car through the door opposite her and whispered,

"Ready for this?"

"Oh yeah – I'm looking forwards to arriving I can tell you that much"; from the front seat Locke silently prepared himself for the rigours of explanation – his son was inquisitive, that much was certain, so there was nothing he could do bar tell Knuckles the answers to everything he asked. As the car started up, Rouge watched out the window eyes widening fractionally as she saw the motor actually rise up off the floor to about the height of a foot or so before taking off smoothly, heading in the direction their driver wanted them to go. Checking across to see Knuckles really wasn't in the mood for general conversation, Rouge simply relaxed and hid a smile as a random thought slid across her mind; _Tails is going to love it up here now – so much new technology for him to toy with_.

The journey passed mostly in a swirl of white; the snowstorm apparently worsened as the drive moved on; in Locke's eyes this was a good thing as it meant the bat wouldn't be able to track her way to their destination without great difficulty. This would maintain the integrity of the guardians' secrets and, more importantly, mean the others wouldn't have as much cause to feel he'd let them down. He could tell the route by instinct; with a sudden stop and gradual descent to the snowy ground, the hover car settled and Locke turned in his seat,

"Right, we go on foot from here, it's not far. I'll come back for the car at a later stage – now follow me". He popped open his door and emerged into the harsh outside world, tightening the collar of his white jacket as he gritted his teeth against the cold. Briefly checking to see that his son and the bat were following him, he set about the trudge that led slightly uphill, towards an indistinct grey shape that loomed up from the hillside in front of them. Turning, he pointed towards the natural opening and bellowed over the howling wind,

"Into the cave there"; without another word, he set off again upwards, Knuckles and Rouge shambling behind him as the more slippery ground made footing more treacherous. After about five or ten minutes, the older Mobian entered the relative sanctuary of the place he had lived for too many years, waiting dispassionately for the other two; to his well-concealed surprise, Rouge emerged first, panting at the iciness of the wind outside.

"That's a bit chilly", she gently put her hands over her ears as she surveyed the dim, dingy surrounds of the cave; she was naturally more at home in them that a lot of other Mobians due to her gift for echolocation but as she tried to figure out why Locke would want to live like this, a second voice cut in,

"Nice place"; Locke smiled humourlessly at his son,

"Follow me". The elder echidna turned to leave when a hand on his shoulder stopped him and span him around,

"No", one of Knuckles' fists exploded into Locke's stomach and simultaneously robbed him of three things; his appetite for the foreseeable future, all the air in his lungs and most of his will to live. He folded up like wet cardboard and collapsed to the cave floor as Knuckles stood over him, "you're going to start talking".

_He didn't use his spurs_; Rouge stood back from this, recognising it as Knuckles answering the quandary he'd found himself in last night – from what she could tell it appeared he'd settled on something of a compromise. The guardian watched on as his father pushed himself to his knees, glaring up in anger, but also in understanding, forcing an ironic, unpleasant smile onto his face as he asked is own question first,

"What", _curse it, must be getting soft – he's strong_; Locke took a few more breaths to ease at least some of the pain from his crushed stomach, "what do you want to know?"

"Well", Knuckles began the series he'd planned in the car; his eyes flicked to Rouge to thank her for leaving him in peace during the journey – she saw and smiled minutely in response, allowing him to focus wholly on the echidna at his feet, "you can start by telling me how you found mum – I've never seen another echidna before, how could you have met her?" Locke wheezed a decent lungful of air before replying,

"I think, I can answer all your questions with the same answer; everything I've done has been following the code of the guardians", there was a slight pause here; when he was sure Knuckles wouldn't question him, Locke continued, rising onto one knee as he spoke, "the youngest must fend for themselves Knuckles; it's the only way you can truly become a guardian of the Master Emerald. I had to abandon you; do you truly think you'd be anything like the echidna you are now if I hadn't? Would you have such a connection to Angel Island, to the Master – it's the only way, and I wish there had been another. Believe me, leaving you there was the second hardest thing I had to do in my life". Locke took a second to steady himself, dropping his head to blink back tears as Knuckles digested this news and to his gall, found it made an appalling amount of sense; _being isolated made me a true guardian, what he's said is right, so far at least_. He drew in the breath for the next in his series of questions but Locke saw it coming and headed him off,

"We, by that I mean those echidnas with guardian blood in them, can, er, this is difficult to explain, we can somehow travel between this part of Angel Island and the part that was lost", he raised a hand, stifling all arguments and questions, "how the vast majority of Angel Island was lost and bound up in the Master is something we don't know; that's why I brought you here. Maybe you can help us find out what's going on, but that's besides the point for now", Locke cut himself off from his own half-truth before either Knuckles or, a greater cause for concern because she seemed more adept at reading people, Rouge could get a proper look at his face, "the second part of the code is what let myself and your mother meet. When the current guardian reaches full maturity, his father comes for him and explains, as I am now, what occurs between the guardians and the reason behind their isolation. They swap places; the father temporarily takes up the role of guardian and his son come here to Echidnopolis and, to be perfectly blunt, finds a partner for life". The last two words were bitterly spoken, the former guardian retreating to brood once more on his folly before a voice stopped him,

"You never told her"; icy panic seized Locke as Rouge pierced right through all thoughts of concealment; a mind as sharp as hers, unburdened with the new revelations of the guardian code, allowed her to join the dots between the code, the divorce and the conversation she'd joined with Lara only last night, "you never said you'd have to take Knuckles".

"No, I didn't", Locke faced his son once more as Knuckles pricked his ears, "I couldn't; Lara was, perfect and, I thought that telling her, would make her leave me, we'd never have been married – I just couldn't tell her". A grim chuckle echoed throughout the cave as the scales fell from Knuckles' eyes and he pointed at his father accusingly,

"Nicely done", malicious sarcasm dripped off every word, "you fulfil the code and stay with mum for what, five years, because you didn't have the guts to tell the truth. Then, when the time's right, you just dump me like yesterday's rubbish and go on your merry way, leaving my mother, your wife, broken-hearted", Locke looked up, starting to ignite as Knuckles came close to a barrier he didn't yet know existed, "you cold-hearted son of a bitch; was the pain faked as well; Lara said you screamed when she wanted a divorce – I don't think you cared enough to…" It was the one thing he could have said to break through; Locke snapped.

From where she was stood, it simply appeared that Locke had done nothing more than forcefully extend his hand outwards; as Knuckles flew backwards, pinned to the wall of the cave as though held up by the throat, she quickly realised something else was afoot. Even as she took in what had happened, long before she could even think about making any sort of response, Locke's voice slit through the air again; rather than the cold, emotionless whisper she had expected, this was a strident bellow, any opposition swept aside in a surge of pain long repressed,

"Listen Knuckles", Locke fixed his eyes on his struggling son, his natural gifts suspending him enough to hurt, but not to cause anything like a serious injury, "and listen well because I'll probably only say this once". Rouge stayed quiet and remained motionless; it appeared Locke had either forgotten about her or had discounted her presence completely.

"I love Lara-Le – I always loved her and I probably always will; I said abandoning you was the second hardest thing I've ever done, well the hardest was signing my name on the divorce papers. Why do you think I did that Knuckles? Why? Because I loved her; she could never be happy with me again, not after my craven betrayal. I let her go, not to go on my merry way, but to spare her any further pain from living with a man she had every right to despise", Locke dropped his hold and Knuckles dropped unceremoniously to the floor, coughing as he reached up to massage his neck, "I wake up every day thinking about what could have been, if I'd actually had the courage to come clean from the start – you have no idea what it's like to have that, every day of your life for over a decade, and if the fates are kind you never will. I lost Lara-Le, the only woman I will ever love, because of my own cowardice and stupidity; I've punished myself for that mistake unendingly; I don't need you to help me". He cut himself off, seeing perhaps a hint of understanding dawn in his son's eyes; that had come from the heart, it would have been impossible to fake. Knuckles slowly drew himself to full height, a grudging respect for his father just starting to make itself shown as he regarded the other echidna's unspurred hands warily,

"How did you do that?" There was a snort as Locke turned away, reasserting control over his pain as he called over his shoulder,

"I'll tell you when I take you inside", he moved towards the very back of the cave and spoke again without facing either of his companions, "come on, they're waiting". Rouge flicked her eyes to Knuckles; taking the lead, he went first, senses alert for any sign of trickery as she followed, scanning the area with ultra-sound as best she could but failing to detect anything. Knuckles stole up level with his father and whispered,

"Well, we're here, what did…" He never finished; while he'd been glancing all over his new environment, Locke hadn't been idle. The former guardian quickly reached behind him and hit a concealed button, waiting for the reassuring clank and grind of familiar machinery. As both treasure hunters looked around in a panic as the ground under their feet vibrated, Locke let the hint of a genuine smile onto his face, allowing himself the pleasure of the ancient greeting that his grandfathers had extended to him,

"Welcome guardian, to the home of those who have gone before you in the sacred duty of protecting the Master Emerald. Rest now, for you have reached Haven".

Rouge looked down as she recognised the slight feeling of weightlessness and the gentle hum and clank; she was in some kind of elevator, and it was going down.

"You live underground?" She whispered at Locke; the older Mobian flashed her a dead look and nodded,

"This is Haven, the home of the guardians and their immediate families – you should feel honoured", Rouge looked up as Locke gave an expression halfway between a smile and a sneer, "you're one of a very select few who have ever entered this place".

"Great" Knuckles growled quietly, thinking very hard about what had just been said and trying to sort out his feelings for his father; he had been a fool and because of it he had hurt a fair few people, but he'd tried to atone for at least part of his error despite the fact that had caused him even more pain. After a few seconds though, it was all void as the elevator ground to a halt and the doors in front of it slid open. Locke stepped through the metal portal, instinctively recognising the patches of maintenance work he himself had carried out and dismissing it thoughtlessly; his passengers, however, took rather a different view of their new surroundings,

"Why, er, why do you live underground?"

"Because it's safer under here, and it's isolated; we keep away from other echidnas to prevent them finding out about us and, by extension, preventing them knowing about the Master. I noticed that, while you've been here, neither of you have mentioned it, most commendable". Ignoring the implications of the last part of this sentence, Knuckles was overtaken by curiosity once more,

"Why don't you want the other echidnas to find out?" Locke let out a sigh of impatience as he turned to face his son and put his hands wearily on his hips,

"Because there is a risk that if we did tell the other echidnas, some among their number would try to claim it for themselves and put all of us in danger. It has happened before son, make no mistake about that; only the previous guardians prevented our entire civilisation collapsing – you could say in a way the separation of the Island was a good thing, whatever the circumstances behind it were. Anyway", he clapped his hands, breaking the spell of his words and more importantly taking the attention away from his give away body language, "speaking of the former guardians, we mustn't keep them waiting". Rouge hid a shudder as she leapt to a conclusion,

"The guardians are into, um, worship of the ancestors?" There was a sudden outburst of sound from Locke; for a second she thought it was some kind of ritualistic chant, but gradually she recognised it as laughter; humourless and cold, but laughter nonetheless. Without turning around Knuckles' father answered her,

"Dislike, grudgingly respect and argue with possibly, but in no way, shape or form do I worship my ancestors". The treasure hunters shared a slightly concerned glance, unsuspecting that, within a half-hour, they'd be fully aware why Locke had answered Rouge's question in that manner.

The tunnels led onwards, Locke leading them to wherever he wanted them to go seemingly effortlessly, comfortable within his own home as the way was lit by torches on the walls, air pumped in from the ceiling giving the whole layout a decidedly chilly feel as the trio progressed. From time to time, Knuckles would glance off to a door in the left and catch sight of different areas; there was what looked like a store of food, an entire corridor of training rooms, something like a library and, he hid a small smile as old memories resurfaced, a lab that Tails would have been proud to call his own just visible in the dusky surroundings. After walking for what seemed like hours, Knuckles felt a need to ask something, if only to lift the shroud of silence that had descended over them,

"How large is Haven, and how was it built?" Feeling himself getting closer to the place he needed to be, and more importantly feeling a very familiar presence lurking just around the next corner, Locke answered in a hushed voice,

"We're not sure exactly, approximately two of three miles square. This place isn't finished yet; it's tradition for each guardian to add a room to this place when they move in, so it expands gradually". _Now which one is it_; Locke reached the corner slightly before the other two and was immediately grateful as it meant neither could see his eyes roll; _it would have to be you wouldn't it_. Knuckles rounded the corner and noticed his father's stationary form, just as Rouge, walking almost in step with him, glanced up at what Locke was looking at. She clenched her eyes shut in disbelief as Knuckles saw as well and joined the silent chorus of watchers, mind failing to take in what he was seeing; in front of him, there was an echidna, a slightly lighter shade of brown than Wynmacher, walking casually down the tunnel away from them.

This in itself shouldn't have been particularly unusual; in the past couple of days, both Rouge and Knuckles had seen an awful lot of echidnas walking around, at the very least several thousand. There was nothing particularly special in the way he was walking; it seemed normal enough, but it was there was one immediately obvious and ordinarily impossible fact about this particular echidna's walking that made them sit up and take note.

This echidna was casually taking a brisk stroll on the ceiling.

There was only silence; Locke didn't bother speaking because he was long inured to this echidna's peculiar method of locomotion, while neither of the other two could even consider formulating words – they just continued to watch this individual single-handedly demolish hundreds of years of physics and offer proof that gravity didn't really exist at all. Fortunately, just as Locke was about to press on, the other echidna turned around; Rouge's first impression was a fairly childish face, unconcerned with worries or stress as his spines, colourfully decorated with bright bangles and wrappings, swayed gently from the motion.

"Hello grandson", his voice was rather high for a male the bat determined as he noticed her, looking remarkable bemused as his blue eye twinkled at her, "who is this pretty one, and…third-son!"

There was no warning, no threat, no indication at all as the brown echidna suddenly became a living missile; he streaked towards the stunned form of Knuckles like a bullet. Rouge and Locke instinctively sprang aside and the guardian himself threw up both hands to ward off the incoming attack. However, the flying echidna simply didn't stop; next thing anyone knew there were two figures up in the air and spinning around like crazy; Knuckles had been caught in a massive bear hug and the other echidna was turning aerial cartwheels and somersaults in jubilation with him as a helpless and probably nauseous passenger. The brown echidna was shrieking at the top of his lungs that this was the happiest day of his life. Rouge was about to try and fly in, lining up a jump at one of Knuckle's flailing feet when a sudden tap on her shoulder brought her face to face with Locke. The red echidna shook his head,

"Leave him be; Athair's just a little, over-excited". The bat looked at him agog, trying to drown out the repeated shouts of joy; just as she was about to answer there was a loud, smacking noise. Overcome with curiosity, Rouge turned immediately saw the cause with an uncontrollable giggle; the large red mark on the beige of Knuckle's cheek giving away what must have happened. The impromptu greeting seemed to snap the guardian out of his stupor; an indignant roar filled the air,

"Put me down!" The mad aerial dance ceased for a second, the child-like eyes of the brown echidna being bored into by Knuckle's glowing ones, before there was a causal shrug and the flying echidna let go. For an infinite second they were both freely suspended before gravity, seemingly irked at being denied one victim, took revenge on the second; with a panicked shout, Knuckles plummeted back to earth, damaging nothing but his pride from the short fall. Looking up from his sitting position, he looked at the other echidna murderously as he hovered in front of him, seemingly reproachful,

"No need to shout third-son, I can hear perfectly well". Knuckles slowly pulled himself to his feet, ready to pounce and rectify that situation before Locke decided to make some introductions.

"Knuckles", when he had his son's attention, he motioned to the flying form of Athair, hiding the hint of a smile that threatened whenever his grandfather decided to act up on someone other than himself, "this is Athair, your third-father". Not taking his eyes off the strange floating being, Knuckles whispered,

"Third-father – what does that mean?" Locke sighed in exasperation, trying to ignore Athair as he backstroked leisurely through the air,

"Isn't it obvious boy; he is your father three generations removed".

_Three generations_; Rouge seized on this and goggled at the answer; _if that's true, it can't be, he's, he's not old enough_;

"This is Knuckle's great grandfather!" Seemingly reminded by her voice of her presence, Athair zeroed in on her, floating over gently and hovering at eye-level with the confused bat.

"Yes, that's me and that's my third-son", he pointed at Knuckles with paternal pride before looking at her curiously, "and who are you – are you part of my family?"

"Athair", Locke bit back a sigh, focussing on his third-father so intently he missed Rouge's cheeks turn pink for a spilt-second, "does she look like an echidna to you?"

"No, but that's good", Athair crossed his arms and smiled; catching Locke out at word games was a joy of his, "all the echidnas I know are stuffy old killjoys, ow!"

"I heard that!"

A lavender purple echidna was storming towards them from the way they had come; Knuckles was closest to him and got the first good look and one word sprang to mind – warhorse. He had a look about him that brooked no disrespect and his body language demanded instant respect; he didn't so much walk as march right up to Knuckles, regarding him with a critical, practised eye.

"So, you are my sixth-son?"

"Sixth", Knuckles quickly worked out how many greats that was and his mind recoiled in shock; he glanced at Locke frantically as Rouge tried to explain to Athair that she was a bat, "just how extended is this family?"

"Don't worry, only grandfather Spectre's older then Thunderhawk here", Locke smiled coldly as the lavender echidna snorted, "he's my sixth-father, so your seventh. Five greats" he added helpfully as Knuckles staggered, putting a hand on a nearby wall for support; _and to think I was expecting a normal family_; he was cut off as Thunderhawk demanded,

"Stand up straight", he crossed his arms as Knuckles turned to face him, "leaning like that is no way for a guardian to conduct himself. Now Locke, you were told to bring back the guardian were you not?"

"I was". _Right, I can see where this is going_; Locke folded his arms and awaited the storm as Thunderhawk continued,

"Right, so tell me, o beloved and cherished fifth-son", he pointed straight at Rouge, voice rising as he finished remonstrating, "why is there a stranger in Haven?"

"She is here at my invitation…" Locke began, realising it was probably futile as, once Thunderhawk got going, nothing sort of one of Spectre's rages could stop him,

"And just who said you could invite a complete stranger into our home" Thunderhawk bellowed, before a single voice, quiet, dignified and, to Rouge, supportive, cut in, defeating Thunderhawk's anger like a rapier can beat a broadsword.

"Rouge is not a stranger to me", Knuckles looked the lavender echidna dead in the eye, not challenging him but simply stating a fact, "and, as you claim to be part of my family, that means she is not a stranger to you either". Neither echidna backed down, neither needed to, as Athair quietly whispered in the bat's ear,

"Does that mean you've been adopted?" A smile breaking out on her face as gratitude warmed her heart once more, Rouge leant towards him and whispered back,

"Something like that"; _yes, really something like that_ – before she could think too far ahead, there was a sudden outbreak of chuckling from Thunderhawk; he clapped Knuckles on the shoulder and smiled,

"So, you've got a bit of spine – excellent, good quality for a guardian that, now about this stranger". He shouldered his way past Locke and Athair (who just rebounded off the wall as though it was rubber and resumed his previous position) to stand in front of Rouge and glare at her; she didn't flinch as she locked eye with him in a stare-down, though she wouldn't have been Mobian if she hadn't felt a few twinges of apprehension – it was fairly obvious where Knuckles had inherited his physique from. She didn't back down though, and after a few seconds, a slow smile crept over his face and he offered a thick, calloused hand,

"I see; very well, you are staying here with the guardian; may your stay be fruitful". She shook, feeling the inherent strength in the purple echidna's grip and returned his smile,

"I'm sure it will", she returned his smile and glanced around, "now, if he's Knuckles' third-father, and you're his sixth, that still leaves four to find, including his seventh; I'm assuming he doesn't have an eight father?" Something like a glimmer of respect entered the brown eyes of Thunderhawk as he saw her reasoning and accepted her astute mind.

"You assume correctly", he released his grip and turned back towards Locke, face now all business, "bring them to the main meeting hall, I'll assemble the others. Come third-son, you can help me". The purple echidna lashed out quickly, grabbing Athair by the leg and hauling him off as the flying echidna waved at Rouge; despite herself, the bat waved back, somehow, regardless of his seemingly mad antics, she found it nearly impossible to dislike the third-father.

"I'm impressed"; Locke spoke into the void that seemed to be left by the departure of the bombastic Thunderhawk and effervescent Athair, "you seem to have made a positive impression on grandfather Thunderhawk son, and you as well Rouge – a feat I had long thought impossible". Knuckles didn't respond; his mind was too busy sagging under the knowledge that he had seven generations of grandparents – the ludicrous thought that it was going to cost him a fortune in birthday presents was quickly quashed under the knowledge that there was a distinct possibility that none of them would react well to Rouge, or maybe even himself. He took a deep breath and tried to compose himself as much as possible before regarding Locke again.

"Right, I have a, large family then". _I feel your confusion Knuckles; it was bad enough when I arrived here alone_; Locke was more than clever enough to realise that the presence of Rouge, and what everyone would think of her, was weighing heavily on his son's mind. He tried to be sympathetic and soften the blow a bit,

"Yes, but don't worry too much – most of the grandfathers know a little about the other species, including bats", he cast a glance at Rouge almost without meaning to, catching her breath a heavy sigh of relief as this sank in, "we have texts from our ancestor's times when it was possible for echidnas to see others".

"You mean before the island, er, faded out?"

"Precisely – we all study them and learn about the past, though you are the first they'll have seen in the flesh, except maybe Sojourner". Rouge sucked on her lip before nodding and raising an eyebrow,

"Sojourner?"

"Your fifth-father Knuckles", he saw his son nod and then straightened, heeding the call from the others that all was ready, "now it's time to meet them all". Without another word, the former guardian strode away; sharing a glance, and with Rouge giving a supportive smile and taking off to hover in the air, imitating an exaggerated kiss, Knuckles followed his father and tried to ignore the airborne form of his girlfriend miming Athair's dive-bombing kiss-and-hug attack.

The walk wasn't long, about two or three minutes at most, and ended at what Rouge assumed to be the heart of the subterranean complex; a vast, high roofed meeting place with a table in the centre of it. However, to the eyes of Knuckles especially, the important things were the echidnas sat at the table, waiting patiently for the trio to appear in the entrance. As Locke entered the room and bowed slightly from the waist, the other echidnas stood from their seats and returned the gesture; oddly, Knuckles thought at the time, not one word was spoken between any of them as the ritual seemed to end there. Locke straightened and headed towards the table, holding a hand out behind him to indicate the other two should stay where they were for now. When he sat, the unfamiliar echidna to his right, sat between Locke and Athair stood up and walked slowly over to them. He was as red as Knuckles and appeared to wear a monocle over his left eye; when looking at that and the way he walked struck Knuckles with an impression of complete professionalism. However, unlike Locke, this echidna seemed to be genuinely warm as he extended his hand to the guardian,

"Welcome Knuckles, I am Sabre, your grandfather", the monocle flashed as he looked down at the guardian's grip, "yes, sorry about those; they must have skipped a generation". As he glanced down, Knuckles felt himself return the smile as he saw what Sabre was driving at; both hands shaking were adorned with spurs.

"Don't worry, they've come in useful more than once". The older echidna chortled as he dropped his grip and asked,

"Have you registered?"

"Just yesterday – what about you?"

"Oh yes, but I wore a coat"; noting Knuckles raising an eyebrow, Sabre elaborated, "there's only supposed to be one guardian per generation; what would people say if two showed up at once, and before you say it", he waved a warning finger, even as his lips betrayed him with a grin, "I'm a little too old to pass as your twin". _You look ok for at least sixty_; one of Knuckle's questions flooded back to him and he resolved to ask it after the introductions were concluded. Sabre turned to Rouge next; she offered her hand but, instead of shaking, he brought it to his lips and gently kissed the back of it quaintly. The spy held in her slight astonishment to this old-fashioned greeting with ease and, playing by his own rules, offered a slight curtsy. Sabre chuckled again and she felt herself warming to this particular relation,

"Greeting Rouge the Bat, may your stay at Haven be fruitful". With that, he inclined his head again and retreated back to the table. Knuckles realised what was at work here; his grandfathers were coming forwards one at a time to lessen the shock. _Quite considerate really, now who_… he caught sight of a now instantly recognisable brown face and internally winced as Athair rolled onto the table top, found his feet and pushed off, flying forwards. Knuckles hastily reached a decision that, ancestor or no, if Athair tried the same trick twice, he'd not be held responsible for the consequence. Fortunately, sort of, Athair screeched to a mid-air halt right in front of his nose, grabbed his paw and began pumping it vigorously up and down, speaking like Cream at Christmas,

"Hellothird-sonyouknowI'mAthairandI'myourgreatgrandfather. It'sgoodtohaveyouhereatHavenandI'msureyou'llloveit". _Right, I think I got all that;_ as Knuckle tried to dissect what the hyper flying echidna had said, he moved onto Rouge and hovered in front of her, looking a little forlorn as he spoke petulantly,

"You never said you could fly". Rouge gaped for a second before shaking her head and jerking herself back to the present,

"Sorry, it, er, it never crossed my mind as being important". Athair floated back as though she'd struck him, holding his head in his hand as the words impacted on him,

"Not important, pretty Rouge, do you know how much fun it is", noticing her cocked head, he offered his hand and smiled excitedly, "well, I'll have to show you…"

"Not right now" came Locke's proclamation,

"…Some other time. Well, have a nice stay here pretty Rouge". Athair nodded his head and set off back to his seat, leaving the bat with shaking shoulders and Knuckles rather more confused than he had been. As he sat back and put his feet on the table, the next ancestor stepped forwards.

_Family; an important concept_; as Amy dodged snowballs from Cinnamon and Cream, the being, feeling her affection for both the other two Mobians, was stirred to remember other, dimmer memories and swirl the murk of itself to the surface; _I, I recall, something like a family; it might have been a father figure, someone I looked up to. I must have had a mother, a biological necessity, but, there was another as well…ah, these projectiles of frozen water are off-putting_. Amy took her revenge on her harasser, but her perfectly aimed ball was intercepted by Akki; the Akita dog snapped the snowball from the air with his huge jaws, leaving his owner untouched.

"Hey, no fair, you got protection". The cat stuck her tongue out as her dog cavorted in front of her, loving the games of the season at the same time he prevented either of the other players getting a clear shot at his master.

"I own it, it's legal".

"Cheater", Cream called, dropping her aim from Amy and lining a shot at the cat, "Amy, team up".

"You're on". Both drew back as Cinnamon dived for cover.

"Greetings guardian – I am Sojourner, your fifth-father"; Knuckles himself wasn't sure about this strange, skinny wastrel in front of him, the guardian crest obscured by a green t-shirt as he offered his hand. Sojourner looked thin enough for him to fit both hands around and was the smallest of all the echidna's present; _from the generations, he must be Thunderhawk's son – talk about chalk and cheese_.

"I know what you're thinking", his fifth-father's voice broke through his thoughts; looking up, he saw there was an incensed, long suffering look on the former guardian's face, "not all of us fight with brawn alone".

"I know that fifth-father; many of my friends are living examples of that".

"Good"; _friends, that's something we'll need to go over_; unlike the others, Sojourner didn't introduce himself to Rouge, merely jerked his head in her direction dismissively before retreating like the others had. The bat was far too collected to let this affect her – if Sojourner didn't like her, that was his problem and anyway, none of the others seemed to mind her being at Haven. As he sat down, the bat was pleased to see both echidnas flanking him deliver a withering glance in his direction before Thunderhawk stood up and headed their way, looking for all the world like a brick wall wouldn't stop him.

"I won't go through all the rhetoric; we've met and you know who I am and vice-versa. Just keep out the way and there'll be no trouble here". He leant in towards Rouge, speaking under his breath so quietly that she was sure only enhanced hearing could let her catch everything of what he was saying.

"Forgive my son; he has many admirable qualities, but unfortunately manners aren't one of them".

"No-one's perfect" she whispered back, catching the faintest hint of a smile as the lavender echidna straightened and headed back for his seat. Rouge glanced back, waiting for the mysterious seventh-father, only to see the seat was empty.

_They said his name was Spectre_; Rouge shivered almost imperceptibly as her earlier suspicions of ancestor worship were reawakened; however, as a voice came from the tunnel the opposite side of the table from where she and Knuckles were standing.

"Welcome guardian, and guest", the voice was a little dark and foreboding, "rest awhile, for we have much to discuss and little time to do it in". There was the sound of footsteps and slowly, another figure moved around the table. The voice matched the speaker; he was clad in encompassing black robes and appeared to be wearing some kind of helmet of burnished steel; his head was down as he approached still. Knuckles assumed this was his seventh-father and nodded in deference; he really didn't want to know just how old Spectre actually was; even his most conservative estimate put him at no younger than a hundred and fifty. _He doesn't even have a walking stick_; Knuckles banished those thoughts from his head as Spectre came to within arm's length and looked up, smiling thinly as Knuckles was struck with a sense of déjà vu; _he's a dead ringer for Shadow!_

The ancient echidna, from what little he could see of his fur due to a combination of robes and helmet, had the same jet black fur as his hedgehog friend but not only that, Spectre's eyes were the same deep crimson as Shadow's. He was so caught up in the likeness that he didn't notice the extended hand,

"Something the matter seventh-son?"

"Huh, oh, sorry Spectre".

"Grandfather Spectre; manners boy, don't go down the same path as my second-son", Rouge hid a smile as Sojourner visibly flushed and she could see it even from the table; Knuckles smiled at the gentle rebuke and gently clasped his grandfather's wrinkled paw.

"Apology's seventh-father", he bobbed his head respectfully as Spectre closed his eyes for a second, using his power to see that which none of his son's could;_ most interesting, I don't believe anything like this has ever happened before_. Releasing his kin, the black-furred echidna turned to his guest and spoke again,

"Greetings Rouge; may your stay at Haven be fruitful", he managed a wry smile, "forgive me if I don't bow – I'm not quite as flexible as I used to be".

"Not a problem" the bat assured him; Spectre gave a second smile before extending an arm towards the table; before a pair of awed gazes, two seats from the side of the room magically moved to under the table, providing the extra seating needed.

"Come", Spectre led the way to the table, already anticipating the first question, "we have much to talk about".

A/N: To those of you unfamiliar with the Brotherhood of Guardians, it boils down to this – they are the former guardians who were replaced by their children, hence, they're all Knuck's ancestors. There are seven of them (in order of age): Spectre, Thunderhawk, Sojourner, Athair, Sabre, Locke and of course Knuckles himself. The use of the term father and son denotes how many generations removed they are from each other e.g. Athair calls Spectre his third-father. But wait, Knuckles calls Spectre his seventh-father; there's a generation missing between Sojourner and Athair. What happened to this guardian (and why is Athair airborne?) – find out next chapter!


	16. Chapter 15 Ancestral Power

Chapter 15 – Ancestral Power.

A/N: Right, a quick point needs making right here and right now:

HHH – Much as I'd love to take credit for the father/son thing, it's not my idea. I've read other fics on this site concerned with the Brotherhood and they mostly use this system so I decided to stick with it. If you want more Brotherhood based fiction, I can't recommend Aurora de Valini (sp?) highly enough.

Knuckles followed in his seventh-father's footsteps, mind working to both digest the tough information it had recently been forced to absorb, and also to plan the questions he'd need to ask to sate his burning curiosity. He had a hundred questions to ask, but he wasn't quite sure how to phrase them coherently as the cool, solid wood of his chair brushed up against his back and he sat down. For a moment there was only silence as Spectre circumnavigated the entire table to sit in the exact centre, between Sojourner and Athair; the arranged guardians presented a formidable array of echidnas as they individually scrutinised the two Mobians sat in front of them. When all were comfortably seated, Spectre began the proceedings,

"We have much to discuss guardian – it is part of our code to aid you in understanding the new world you find yourself in, but unlike past incidences, you must also help us", the ancient echidna leant forwards, looking at his distant descendent directly, "from what we have seen, something great is at work; Echidnopolis has reappeared on Angel Island and we must uncover why. The Master is out of balance and the oath of guardianships binds us all as strongly as it does you. We believe the only way we can, redress the balance is by pooling everything we know together, that's why you were invited here".

"What would have happened if I'd have refused?" Rouge kept a close eye on the guardians as Knuckles asked this; their reactions were interesting and varied; Spectre seemed to not bother to react to the question, Sabre raised an eyebrow while Athair seemed to be examining something on the ceiling; _probably his own footprints_; the bat smiled as the flying echidna noticed her scrutiny and made his rainbow-tasselled spines shake in a dance of colour as he wagged his head. However, it seemed Thunderhawk's reaction was the most severe; as his voice echoed throughout the chamber Rouge began to get the impression he'd been aptly named,

"You would have refused, even though the Master was in danger!" The sixth-father looked as though Knuckles had offered to summon Lucifer himself and give up his immortal soul into the bargain, "that is not the way of the guardians, boy!" Knuckles had to shout to make himself heard above the din,

"It was a rhetorical question; I know what my duty is", he shot Locke a dirty look that seemed to silence Thunderhawk more than his explanation did, "I'm bound to come and protect the emerald, so I came here".

"Just as well", Sojourner joined the debate, eyeing the guardian coolly, "I'd have hated to go and collect you myself". Rouge decided this was the best way to put herself back on level terms with this former guardian following his earlier slight; she smiled back at him, her expression even more arctic than his.

"I'd have loved to have seen you try". His purple eyes fixed on hers as the words sank in; she saw enmity in that gaze, though she couldn't for the life of her understand why. The look was broken by Spectre, tiring of these disturbances, cuffing his second-son on the back of the head reprimanding,

"Show some respect; she is here as a guest and you will be civil to her", the black-furred elder then set his smouldering gaze on Knuckles and he heaved a sigh, "next time seventh-son, keep your rhetorical questions to yourself – I doubt half my sons know what rhetorical means".

"And I doubt grandfather Thunderhawk can spell it" Sabre cut it, smiling at his lavender relative as the elder echidna snapped back,

"Fancy words are your department quack-boy; carry on like that and I'll put your knowledge of anatomy into practice".

"I'd find it hard to do surgery on myself under anaesthetic grandfather".

"I'm sure you'd find a way; you never know", Thunderhawk let a calculating grin onto his face as he bantered with one of his more favoured relatives, "it could let Athair practice his sewing". Sabre opened his eyes so far his monocle fell out, flashing as it dangled at the end of its slim gold chain; studiously ignoring the flying echidna's leading expression he replied,

"I wouldn't let him near me with a needle and thread if I had so much as a torn cuff; I've seen better stitching on prison mail bags". Rouge hid a smile very well as she realised Spectre had his fist clenched and eyes screwed shut, lips moving in a silent, calming mantra as he sought to keep his cool.

"Sons…"

_Amazing_; Knuckles watched as every hint of speaking instantly ceased at his seventh-father's single word; _wish I could do that sometimes, like when I'm in the car with Sonic_. Spectre waited a few more seconds, almost daring anyone to say anything, before continuing,

"…please keep your remarks to yourselves, however true they may be", Thunderhawk snorted as both treasure hunters saw the ghost of a smile flit across Spectre's face, "we will speak first as the code states; we are bound to answer any questions you may have guardian". Rouge at this point licked her lips as Knuckles put his chin into one of his hands, trying to think of what to ask first,

"May, er, may I?" There was an audible rustle as six heads swivelled to face the bat and, despite her normally cool exterior, she felt her cheeks begin to burn under the combined scrutiny. As expected, Sojourner came up with the put-down, though he was exceedingly careful to keep his tone neutral.

"Are you the guardian?" _Can't fault his logic there_; Rouge shook her head, offering her answer,

"Not by blood, but I have helped Knuckles guard the Master".

"You've lived on Angel Island?" Sabre raised a curious eyebrow as the rest of the Brotherhood looked on, either a little perturbed or calculating at the bat's admission.

"Yes, for several months now", there was a collective gasp of astonishment and the bat deduced this was obviously a rare thing indeed, "I originally set out to try and steal it, but after hearing of the Master's importance I realised it needed to be isolated – that is one of the reasons I aid the guardian".

"You, you tried to steal, the Master?" Locke finally managed to voice the Brotherhood's main feelings of amazement and appalled horror; Rouge managed to deflect most of it as Knuckles spoke in her defence,

"She tried to steal it in ignorance of its power; when she realised what the Master truly is, the soul of Angel Island, she turned her back on its allure and helped me keep it safe. Only a special kind of person could do that". The young echidna's words sank in to five of the six echidnas sat opposite them; one had known this all along and merely played along for now. Athair, seemingly less affected by this revelation than the others, recovered first and looked at Rouge openly, smiling as he tapped his fingers together expectantly,

"I agree with Knuckles; pretty Rouge is a special kind of person", Rouge squirmed a bit on her chair though the brown echidna didn't seem to notice, "ask away pretty Rouge; I'll answer if none of these oldies do". Everyone on Athair's left glared at him as everyone on the right, including Knuckles and Rouge herself, fought to stop laughing out loud. When she was sure there wasn't a trace of humour in her tone, as befitting a serious question, the bat lowered her head and asked.

"You are Knuckle's seventh-father Spectre", the black echidna nodded and the bat continued, choosing her words carefully, "but I can only see six of you". _I thought so_; Rouge lowered her eyes as each member of the Brotherhood looked stricken with the exception of Locke. A few tense seconds ticked past before Athair raised his head, eyes wet and crying as Sojourner glared at her poisonously as though blaming her for opening an old wound. No-one save Spectre spoke, however,

"You are correct Rouge; there are only six. It is a deep regret of ours that Janelle-Li, my third-daughter, is not here to welcome you both to Haven; she passed away before your time, before even Locke's". Knuckles bowed his head, mourning the loss of an ancestor he had never known as Rouge flattened her ears, upset for his sake.

"I'm sorry for your loss, especially yours Sojourner"; the echidna in question looked up uncertainly, "she was your daughter?"

"She was, just as she was Athair's mother"; the brown echidna gave a sad smile as he recalled all he could of the gentle, sweet-tempered beige echidna that he could remember as his mother, "but if she were here, she'd be remonstrating us for not focussing on the problem; she was a staunch defender of the Master, even when Athair succeeded her". Strangely, no-one else dared challenge the smaller echidna as he made his declaration – it seemed the memory of his daughter was a very sore point for Sojourner and the other Brotherhood members skirted around it as best they could. In an idle moment, just before Knuckles recovered his momentum, Rouge gave a fleeting thought as to why.

Knuckles had determined the next question he needed answering and, once Athair had dried his tears away, looked at Spectre and asked it.

"There's something I want to know", he cast a glance at Athair and then his father before focussing on Spectre again, "I've seen the Brotherhood use powers I've only ever seen in movies. How do you do it?" To his surprise, the ancient echidna laughed a little and extended a paw at him, pointing with a single finger,

"You have such powers yourself Knuckles, you merely aren't aware of them yet; they'll develop as you do", he explained as his seventh-son's eyes widened; _I remember when I was told – did I really look that gormless_. The black echidna hid his own smile as Knuckles swept the table for confirmation; the younger echidna watched on as Thunderhawk smiled and held out an open palm. The lavender echidna shut his eyes for a second and suddenly a green glow surrounded his hand, the exact same colour as the Master Emerald and…Rouge clapped a hand across her mouth as it reminded her too much of...

"Knuckles", she pawed at him breathlessly, not caring of the looks she received as she did so, "the Thunder Arrow".

"How did you know what it was called?" Thunderhawk stopped the flow of energy as Knuckles glanced up in understanding; that explained why he could, rarely, use his power without being near a Chaos emerald.

"I've done that as well, not often though", he admitted as his sixth-father raised his eyebrows and a smile crept across his face, "I take it you named it?"

"That's what I call it", Thunderhawk snorted as some of the other former guardians looked at him askew, "we can all do it; I just think Thunder Arrow's a better name than Emerald Blast". Knuckles was inclined to agree with that and would have remarked how great minds seemed to have thought alike, but the fact that Thunderhawk suddenly seemed to levitate from his chair silenced him utterly.

"Alright", the lavender echidna crossed his arms and scowled as though this was perfectly normal, "whichever of you little sods is holding me, drop it right now".

"If you insist", there was a thump as Thunderhawk suddenly fell back into his chair from a height of about two feet, landing with a thump as Spectre smiled at him coldly, "respect your elders son". There was a slight ripple of chuckling, especially from Sojourner, as the belligerent purple echidna tried to regain a scrap of dignity, muttering under his breath as Spectre turned to face his younger guests, giving them a few seconds to take this in.

"These are what we call the common powers; gifts bestowed upon us through our bloodline to aid in guarding the Master. I know what you're about to ask", Spectre held up a hand to forestall questions, "they only develop with full maturity; your real period of guardianship shouldn't begin until you replace your son. I understand Locke told you about our code?"

"He did that" Knuckles confirmed, beginning to start to understand the complex environment the guardians must have existed in; it was a convoluted lifestyle and no mistake.

"Well know this seventh-son; no matter what you may think of us, if you had been in real danger when you were younger, we would have stepped in to help you". Knuckles blinked, mouth falling open as he delved into the memories of his past and words spilled from his lips,

"So, so what do you consider real danger – it hasn't been a picnic out there?"

"When you're about to die" Sojourner piped up bitterly, sneering as Knuckles flashed him a dark look, "it never got that desperate fifth-son, we'd have sensed if it had and one of us, me no doubt, would have brought you here".

_So, oh how totally ironic_; Knuckles sighed as he saw the complete picture at last and wondered if someone upstairs was having a quiet joke at his expense; _I've never really been alone all the time I've been alone on Angel Island_. Locke's voice broke in on his thoughts, his father's voice ringing in his ears as he glanced up,

"You were watched over Knuckles – my only regret is that Lara-Le couldn't see her boy grow into a man". At his mother's name the guardian clenched his fist reflexively, remembering how deep the wound Locke had inflicted on both him and his mother had been; he doubted in his heart of hearts that he'd ever truly forgive Locke his treachery, but at least now he could understand at least part of it and, most importantly, he could learn from it as well. _I won't make the same mistake as my father_,

"You're quite right seventh-son", Spectre's voice broke into thoughts and he jerked his head upright, looking at the black echidna's serious smile, "because the guardian code is under severe threat – Angel Island has somehow become rejoined". Knuckles shot to his feet, pointing at Spectre in both fear and anger; if his suspicions were right, throwing around fancy green light and lifting things from a distance weren't the Brotherhood's only gifts.

"How did you know that?" Knuckles wasn't all that surprised to see Spectre raise an eyebrow and give a tiny nod to confirm what he had feared. Before he could act on it though, the black echidna explained for him,

"That is a result of my unique power; unlike the telekinesis and other such gifts, including the long life of the guardians, I alone can draw information out of any source, be it a book, a radio message or even", he leant forwards a little, whispering the last two words, "a mind".

Rouge shot back from the table as though Spectre was brandishing a firearm; she had enough history that didn't need to be made public, least of all to someone who was at heart a stranger, and a spooky stranger at that. Knuckles was having an even more torrid time of it, imagining what Spectre could have seen in his head and the conclusions he might have drawn from it. Visions of the Death Egg, the thoughts of Angel Island sinking into the sea and back again like a yoyo, the unthinkable idea that he had been a bad guardian, all swam up and took a chunk from his confidence until his seventh-father raised his voice to banish such concerns.

"Don't panic; I only saw enough to recognise you as my seventh-son, no more; it takes a lot of effort to decipher information from a mind, especially if it is unwilling or unaware it's being watched", he waited until Knuckles had breathed the same heartfelt sigh of relief all his other descendents had before adding as he always did, "but I can tell from your reaction you've got things to hide". Knuckles glared at the black echidna as Sabre smiled,

"A word of advice grandson; when grandfather Spectre says keep an open mind it means he's after something, usually blackmail". Rouge sniggered, as did Athair and Thunderhawk, as Spectre turned to smile wickedly at his fifth-son;_ when I get through with you Sabre_.

"So that was a unique gift; are they all that powerful?" His virtual revenge scheme was interrupted by Rouge, the bat regarding each of the echidnas in front of her with renewed respect; if they each had a power as dangerous as that one this was a group to be feared indeed. Spectre cocked his head slightly as though trying to think of the best way to answer the former spy's question.

"Possibly, each is strong in their own way"; he gestured to indicate Sojourner, "my grandson can relocate himself, and if he so chooses a passenger as well, over short distances, like now". There was an expectant pause as Sojourner remained stationary for a few seconds before seeming to realise people were waiting,

"Oh, you expected me to actually do it?" There was a flash of light the exact colour of Sojourner's t-shirt as he vanished, leaving Spectre's open palm to travel through thin air as his slap missed. With a second flash, Sojourner reappeared behind the rest of his ancestors, smiling smugly as Knuckles and Rouge gaped after him. However, the smile dropped away when he discovered why they were actually staring like that.

"Chaos Control" Rouge breathed, Knuckles nodding in agreement. Sensing something unlike anything he'd ever heard of before, Spectre asked hurriedly while the subject was still fresh,

"What is that, and have you seen someone disappear like my grandson just did?" Seeing their nods, Spectre made to press on but was interrupted by as second green light as Sojourner reappeared on the table top itself, looking at the pair in front of him intently,

"Someone else has my gift, who?"

"Two hedgehogs we know, their names are Sonic and Shadow", Knuckles answered, noticing his fifth-father turning more puce with each word as his anger at no longer being unique became more apparent, "they call that ability Chaos Control, but don't worry", he let Sojourner off slightly more to relieve his blood pressure than anything else, "they can only do it when they have a Chaos emerald at hand".

There was a pause as these words sank in; Rouge saw enough to get her innate suspicions ticking over before Spectre shook himself and Sojourner shrieked as he was forcefully deposited back in his chair. As he sought to re-orientate himself, Spectre seized him by the fur under his chin and brought them eye to eye. Ever other member of the Brotherhood winced as though waiting for an explosion as the black echidna growled dangerously,

"Listen to me grandson", he tightened his hold on the sensitive fur until Sojourner whimpered in pain, "you have embarrassed yourself, you have embarrassed me and you have embarrassed the Brotherhood in front of both your fifth-son and his guest. I expected better from you Sojourner, but it appears I was wrong; even Athair has behaved with more dignity than you", with a forceful thrust, he sent the younger echidna rocking back in his seat with a final warning, "you're nearly a hundred and thirty five, act your age or leave now". For half a second Sojourner looked like he was about to take Spectre up on that, but shook his head and sat back in his seat, aware of his sons and fathers looking at the battle of wills quite closely,

"My apologises grandfather, I was merely, disconcerted that my unique gift appeared to have been found in others; I've never heard of such a thing happening before". Seemingly satisfied, Spectre turned back towards Knuckles and Rouge once more and bobbed his head apologetically,

"Forgive our reaction but he's right; guardian powers manifesting in non-guardians is a thing unheard of". Rouge let out a short laugh and, as the guardians looked at her, she explained whilst chortling,

"If it's any consolation, so are Sonic and Shadow; they're pretty unique as well. But anyway", she clapped once and looked forwards, "what can the rest of you do; I'm interested now, and also", she glanced at Knuckles, "what will Knuckles' power be, is there any way of knowing?" _She has a very quick mind, and a thankfully high tolerance for idiots_; Spectre glanced at the echidnas flanking him, realising he'd need to make this quick as it looked like Athair might explode if he was forced to sit still any longer,

"There's no way of telling, but it will come as his other powers do. However, I suppose he has a right to know what us 'oldies' are capable of", Athair brightened as Spectre sent a reluctant smile his way. At his nod, Sabre spoke up,

"Well, my gift is to do with the body; I can't heal people exactly, but I can help speed up the natural processes. Guardians heal fast anyway, so I can usually heal the others as fast as grandfather Thunderhawk can send them my waoooww!" Looking closely, and bearing in mind what had been said about the powers guardians were said to possess, Knuckles was able to see with concealed amusement that Sabre was quite literally having his ear tugged by his irate relative, a fact Thunderhawk confirmed when his deep voice rolled across the table.

"Watch your mouth quack-boy or I'll have Athair sew it up", the brown echidna brightened and reached down as Sabre flicked his eyes down to follow him, blanched and then gabbled a hasty apology; seemingly satisfied, Thunderhawk released his grip then looked at Knuckles and tapped the side of his nose slyly, "as for me, you'll find out later sixth-son". _Sounds like a challenge_; the young echidna smiled right back and then turned to look at his third-father. Much to his surprise, however, Athair squirmed in his seat and put his arms up embarrassed,

"Ah, third-son, don't look at me, I'm not really a guardian like your other relatives".

"What do you mean?" Rouge smiled at the reluctant form of the brown echidna, "I'm sure you've got something special as your gift".

"Pretty Rouge, I'm ashamed", Athair floated into the air and bowed his head, "I don't have a gift like the others, I'm completely normal".

_Is he for real_?; For once, neither Knuckles nor his partner could accurately tell whether Athair was being serious or not; there was just something in his almost childish face that just defied any attempt to gauge his mood. Knuckles would have pressed this enigmatic echidna but Locke caught his attention with a telekinetic tweak of his ear; glancing around, Knuckles caught the mouthed words 'tell you later' and acknowledged them with a glance. Realising he was the only one left, the youngest former guardian spoke up,

"For myself, what my father does with the body, I can do with machines. I can invent a lot of new devices and I pretty much keep this place running as well as it does". With absolutely perfect comic timing, the lighting in the place suddenly dimmed until, with a pop, it went out completely. Knuckles smiled as he heard muffled laughter from the other guardians and from Rouge; he could almost feel his father's face burn up as thick words pierced the darkness,

"No comment".

A sudden green glow suddenly lit up from around Thunderhawk, illuminating the scene with an eerie phosphoresce as Locke, muttering under his breath and face like thunder, left his seat and headed down on of the innumerable tunnels that made up the bulk of Haven's living space. While he was gone, the conversation continued under the unnatural, glowing light radiating from the body of his sixth-father.

"Well seventh-son, let us begin", Spectre leant forwards in his seat, ignoring Athair rising up to the ceiling as surreptitiously was possible for Athair for the sake of speed; the black echidna knew better than anyone that, once he had the information he needed, he would be best placed to mediate and use his gift to deduce any new clues he could find while the rest of the Brotherhood entertained his seventh-son and the bat by his side, "could you explain the circumstances behind the reappearance of the island?" Knuckles recognised the meaning behind Spectre's sudden determination and took a breath before launching into his story.

The Brotherhood listened in silence for the most part, only a few questions from the seemingly naturally curious Sabre holding up proceedings before Knuckles reached one of the major points of his tale.

"When we arrived at the shrine, one of those waves I mentioned earlier swept over me, but it was a lot stronger here. Rouge said for me to wait in case it was dangerous for me, and she pressed on into the shrine itself; she better take it from here"; the bat composed herself, trying to recall every detail of the shrine and the Master Emerald as she had last seen it. When she was ready, she took up the story.

"I tried to run into the shrine, but it was hard; like the air itself was, um, heavier, more condensed. I got there as fast as I could, but a couple more waves were sent out before I made it. That was when I heard; every time a wave came Knuckles reacted – I could see the glow from the emerald pulsing, like a heartbeat. With every pulse, another wave was sent out and Knuckles got hit, so I went as fast as possible to try and help him out. When I arrived at the shrine, the Master Emerald was actually in the air", all seven echidnas, Locke having just reappeared looking slightly singed and streaked with some kind of oil to retake his seat, muttering he'd do something about it later, leaned in closer to catch ever word as though their lives depended on it. _The Master is their lives, so it quite literally might do_; the bat shook the distracting thought from her mind before continuing,

"It was spinning and pulsing; I could almost feel the light going over me. It didn't look like anything was actually happening to the Emerald itself, so I assumed that this was something the Master was doing on its own, though I didn't have a clue what it was actually doing. I realised there was nothing I could do, so I went back to fetch Knuckles", she remembered in the nick of time, "and as I left, I noticed there was writing on the shrine walls, it was glowing but I couldn't read it". There was a soft thump as Spectre tapped the top of the table in front of him; a suspicion lit a flare inside the old echidna's sharp mind, but he needed evidence and there was only one way of getting it that he knew.

"Fifth-father, you think…?"

"I suspect", Spectre answered Sabre as Rouge paused, realising this could be important; the black echidna folded his hands under his chin for a second before looking at her and her alone, a calculating look on his wrinkled face, "Rouge, what you've said could have implications on this whole situation, but I must be sure and there's only one way I can be short of examining the shrine myself. I ask you to let me see what you saw that day".

"You want to read my mind?" The bat's tone was severe and calculating; this really was uncharted territory for her and the last thing she needed was this strange mystic opening a nasty can of worms all over the place; seeing her trepidation, Spectre decided to give her a test.

"Yes, I need to be sure; a false guess could be disastrous". Rouge heaved down a deep breath, before looking up at the seventh-father, his maroon eyes reflected in her aqua blue as she asked a vital stipulation.

"Will this help the Master?" _Unusual, more concerned with the Emerald than herself_; the black echidna nodded,

"Yes, if my suspicions are correct". The most fleeting, faintest of glances was cast; _the Master, or something else?_

"What do I need to do?" The tension that seemed to have crept up on them all fled away chastised as Spectre smiled, crinkling his eyes up slightly.

"Close your eyes", Rouge did so, "now concentrate, listen to me; think only of the shrine, picture it clearly in your mind, every detail, every tiny thing", there was a slight pause, only the faint sounds of breathing percolated the air, "do you have it?" The bat nodded, holding the crystallised vision she had solidified firmly in her mind's eye; at the gesture, Spectre half-stood, supported by Thunderhawk's strong paw on his back, and slowly reached across the table towards Rouge's face, the seventh-father closing his own eyes just before contact was made. Knuckles kept his eyes fixed firmly on Rouge, watching for any signs of discomfort; the tiniest mewling of pain and he would have broken the contact without a second thought but thankfully his worries were unfounded. Rouge flinched instinctively as the cooler flesh of Spectre's hand touched her gently on the forehead, but then there was nothing, no pain, no discomfort, not even a vague itch before the touch was lifted. Spectre settled back in his seat, the images he had captured from the bat's mind stored logically away for dissection later.

"Open your eyes", Rouge blinked under the disorientating effects of the glowing green light Thunderhawk and Sojourner were now giving off; the resultant effect framing the most ancient of Knuckle's relatives in a halo of sickly radiance. Spectre sat back, using his uniquely structured mind to catalogue, store and cross-reference all the information he had been exposed to and reach a rapid, though not yet fully proven conclusion.

"Was it what you thought seventh-father?"

"I believe so, but I can't be completely sure just yet", Spectre allowed a rare smile onto his face as Rouge noticed Sabre and Locke both sit back a little more, confidence seemingly boosted by their grandfather's proclamation, "it appears the Master itself may have aided us in our mission to keep it safe".

_Eh?_ Knuckles raised an exceptionally curious eyebrow as that sentence didn't quite make sense; he knew the Master was remarkably astute compared to your average giant stone, but something didn't add up. If what his seventh-father was saying was true, how was it doing so, and why hadn't it done so before now?

"The writing, it wasn't just scrawlings on a wall was it?"

"Careful", Thunderhawk growled slowly, "those marks were carved by our ancestors; it is improper to dismiss them as mere scrawlings".

"Even if we can't read them" Sojourner added almost apologetically, shrugging as Thunderhawk glared over at him. Spectre raised a hand for silence and all was still; _I would love to see what happened if he met Sonic_; Knuckles smiled at the sudden thought, at the time blissfully unaware of what would come to be as he thought so.

"Unusually, both my sons are right; the translations are lost to us, but the marks are no mere writings. They are empowered by the Master itself and ward off those who come to close to the shrine; no-one can find the shrine of the Master unless they already know where it is".

It was only after a few seconds that those words, and the sheer implications of what they actually meant for him, sank into Knuckles; the guardian's eyes shot open and he snapped his body forwards, peering intently at his seventh-father as he spoke the words that, if answered right, would make his life as a guardian so much more tolerable, even if an entire city of echidnas had suddenly been deposited on his doorstep.

"You're telling me that now, because of that writing, no-one can get near the shrine?" Locke half-stood to answer, taking the pressure off his sixth-father to allow Spectre the time he needed to further study the visions he had received from Rouge.

"Not quite son – most people will be affected, but those glyphs have only recently, if you like, come back online. Anyone who has seen the shrine, and the Master, before they did light up will still be able to find and enter the shrine".

"And threaten the Master", Sabre chipped in, raising an eyebrow at his grandson before continuing casually, "but that isn't many is it Knuckles?" _Ah, this is where things start going downhill_; the youngest guardian licked his lips and squirmed a little – unluckily for him, the volcanic form of Thunderhawk was following his every move intently. A violent supernova of green flooded the entire chamber as the firebrand took the movement as indication of guilt and roared,

"None should have seen the Master and lived boy. How many have lived?" Knuckles shot to his feet; ancestor or none, no-one dictated how he fulfilled his obligations to anything.

"All of them; I won't kill unless there's no other way", the sudden outburst seemed to shock the older echidna and before he could recover Rouge deciphered a decent strategy against the old-fashioned guardian.

"Thunderhawk, times have changed"; _who is she to tell me how things have changed?_ Before he could muster a comeback though, she carried on, "the world below Angel Island has found ways to fly into the air", there was a sudden outburst of cheering from Athair; the brown echidna went into a wild series of tumble turns and aerial somersaults that everyone did their best to ignore, "more have found the island just by chance; I know I did. Knuckles has been worked a lot harder than most of you have; it's a testament to both his bloodline and himself that so few found the shrine".

The lavender echidna sat back in his seat, for once caught without a decent argument against this snappy new stranger. Normally he could have argued any one of his descendents except Athair into the ground, but somehow this bat and his sixth-son seemed to be able to buck that trend. His confusion was evident and, he privately admitted later, he was thankful for Sabre for interjecting when he did.

"Well, I think it would be a good idea if we knew who had seen the shrine; we just need a rough feel of the numbers. Just those who have actually seen the Master though, that's the real crunch". He polished his monocle and replaced it as Knuckles started, counting off on his fingers as he sought to name them all.

"There's Sonic, Tails, Amy has, yeah she did, Cream as well. I think all the Chaotix have too, that's another three. Eggman did too, but don't worry, he's in no position to try and steal it again", the echidna snarled at the memory of Eggman's trial and the rush he'd felt at the guilty verdict before Rouge's voice cut in,

"Big?"

"Nah", the echidna shook his head, "he's never actually seen the stone, so the runes should affect him if what Spec… grandfather Spectre has said is right", the black echidna hid his emotion as Knuckles held up his fingers and smirked, "so that's it, seven in all aside from Rouge and myself; no eight, Shadow, nearly forgot him".

"Eight, that's my lucky number", Athair swooped in low over the table as every ducked out of instinct, "well, we can't see them at the minute, so let's deal with the rest of third-son and pretty Rouge's story".

The rest of the tail ended with no further questions; Spectre looked like he'd fallen into some kind of meditative trance as the tale wore on. When Knuckles eventually stopped talking, finishing with what little Locke had told him of the guardian's code and how it started young;; it was only then that his eyelids flicked open and his voice once more filled the air.

"What you have told us is most interesting"; _the truth can't be said, not yet – there's still a chance we can stop this_; Spectre pressed on, fighting down his own internal self-conflict as he steepled his fingers, "I believe the best course of action is for us to, how can I put this, reassure ourselves that the lucky eight who have seen the Master are of no threat". There was a choked splutter; Rouge looked up as Knuckles smiled and winced, realising what was so funny,

"You're going to get Sonic, here? Good luck with that!"

"We're having visitors", Athair dived down to hover right in front of his fourth-father, bringing them almost nose to nose, "arewearewearewe?" Spectre pushed himself backwards and stood in a dignified manner, even as his telekinetic powers squashed Athair into the ceiling like a bug.

"I think it would be prudent; nothing against these friends Knuckles, but maybe they can help us unravel the mystery; you told your mother that Tails was a mechanical genius did you not?"

"I did", _wait, how…?_ Knuckle turned to see Spectre smile slyly and gently touch his own temple through his helmet – Knuckles suppressed a shudder and wondered just how much his seventh-father actually knew. Sabre also half-stood, seeming to look more at Rouge now as he voiced his own opinion,

"I also think it would be a good idea to hear about the world we're in now", he turned to the rest of the Brotherhood and shrugged, "someone's going to have to tell the council at some point and the more we know the better prepared we'll be to do just that".

"Quack-boy's got a point", Thunderhawk admitted, shaking his head until his dreadlocks rustled, "we'll have to do it sometime or other; last thing we need is someone flying over Echidnopolis and causing mass-panic". Seeing where this was going, Rouge pulled Knuckles' shoulder and whispered in his ear; nodding, he straightened up and addressed his relatives,

"Um, guys, I think I've got a solution", when he had their attention, he indicated Rouge; the bat sat up prissily and beamed at Sojourner especially to annoy him as Knuckles continued, "Rouge knows more about the outside world as a whole than I do, so she can fill you in about that. Meantime, if you can get me above ground for a bit, I can contact the others; it's still the holiday as far as I recall so I can get them here as soon as".

"Wise words from one so young", Athair nodded sagely before sparking again and seizing his third-son by the arm, "come with me, I'll get you up top". The youngest guardian didn't even try to resist and just went with his manic relative as Rouge smiled sweetly at the rest of the Brotherhood.

"So, what do you want to know?"

Knuckles originally set out to try and track Athair's every movement but swiftly gave up due to motion sickness; there was no way anyone except maybe Sonic or Shadow could have followed every twist, twirl and tumble without feeling queasy. As the lively aerial ballet continued, accompanied by his third-father's pitched humming and assorted sound effects, Knuckles felt driven to give a comment,

"Are you sure you don't have a unique power?" To the relief of his eyes and his unsettled stomach, Athair was seemingly stopped by the question; flipping upright and hovering a little closer to the guardian, the older echidna gave a frank, embarrassed smile.

"I am third-son; no special gift for me". Knuckles laughed and pointed at the wall Athair had run along, the footsteps still visible and reflecting off the steel surface of the tunnel as the younger echidna played an ace,

"Then what do you call that then; I don't see grandfather Spectre walking on walls like you can". Athair cocked his head, floating in tandem with Knuckles' strides as he corrected his descendent,

"No, but that's because he doesn't choose to, and he hasn't practised either", Knuckles brought himself up short as Athair's inverted head suddenly dropped into his field of vision, "you can do it too third-son".

That caught Knuckles cold; though he found the idea of being able to levitate at will appealing, he knew for a fact he'd never done anything like the aerial gymnastics Athair seemed capable of. He raised one hand and chuckled, watched on by his third-father,

"Much as I appreciate the commendation, I don't think so…"

"Neither do I", Athair zoomed in, looking right into Knuckle's more serious face, childishly innocent eyes showing the simple truth, "I know so. You've been flying for a while now, you just didn't realise it".

"You mean my gliding", Knuckles shook his head, "nah, that's not flight".

"Then how does it work? Can you say, hand on heart, the only reason you glide is because of wind in your hair. Doesn't seem very likely to me". _I, I never thought of that;_ Knuckles paused, still as stone, as the brown echidna's words sank in – he'd never really bothered to analyse how he glided just because, to him, it felt perfectly natural. Athair saw realisation dawn and clapped his third-son on the shoulder,

"See, it's a guardian gift; all guardians can do it".

"So, you're saying that eventually, I could learn to do what you can do?" Knuckles was suddenly terribly amused at the thought; the look on Tails' face as he outmanoeuvred him though the air would simply be priceless.

"Well, like I said, I'm not like the others, so none of them can do it as well as I can", it seemed impossible to keep this echidna down; no sooner had he made the slightest dent in Knuckles' hopes than he had suddenly seized his third-son by the shoulders, carrying him upwards as the guardian eyed the sudden way the floor seemed to drop away, "but we can practise; all you need to do is…"

"Athair"; Knuckles' highly honed sense of self-preservation kicked in as it decided it didn't like being stuck in a body that found itself facing the prospect of a decent drop and, more importantly, the resultant hard landing that went with it, "remember what Spectre said; we need to get these guys to Haven soon as we caaaannn!"

"You're right third-son and", Athair brought his hands up to his chin, looked at them suspiciously, then looked down, "hey, told you; you can glide without wind".

Somehow, Knuckles managed to get to the lift shaft without depleting the ranks of his grandfathers, fending off the temptation to leave Athair in a broken heap somewhere after that little stunt. As the lift rode itself upwards, Knuckles mentally categorised the flying echidna as just below Eggman in terms of potential calamities and shuddered; _and I want to get him, Sonic and Amy under the same roof – Spectre's going to have a heart attack after this_. Still, the echidna told himself as he fished his phone out of the pocket of his jacket, no point trying to back out now – he needed to prove to his ancestors that all of his friends posed no danger to the Master Emerald. Flicking the phone on, he reached the first number with ease as he realised if Tails wasn't available, there was no chance of anyone making it here. Luckily, the phone was picked up after about six rings and the fox answered, though he sounded a little worn out as he spoke,

"Hello?"

"Hey Tails; been in the workshop again?"

"Knuckles?" _Odd, he doesn't usually call, unless_; the kit's mind leapt to a guess and through the phone Knuckles felt him tense up, "everything okay buddy?"

"Yeah sure, everything's all fine up here"; _sorry kid, but needs must and all that_; the echidna hated lying, especially to his close friends, but he reckoned that telling the fox a large city of echidnas had suddenly materialised on Angel Island probably wouldn't go down so well, "in fact, this is why I'm calling; after the bash we had at Vanilla's Rouge and I decided to invite you all up here for the New Year".

"Umm Knucks, that was yesterday". Luckily the guardian had been able to keep track of time and the next line rolled of his tongue like a drop of honey,

"I know it's a bit late; I was going to call you the day before yesterday but there was a bit of a blizzard and, well, the signal ain't so great when you need both hands to find your nose". In the Mystic Ruins, Tails chuckled at the slight quip and spoke back,

"Okay, I'll try and sort that out for your next phone", he sat back as the guardian relaxed slightly; so far so good, "so, when do you want us and who's coming?" _This is it; crunch time_. Taking only the slightest of pauses, Knuckles launched himself into the meat of the issue feet first.

"Well, ideally I'd like you up here tomorrow; the sooner the better, there aren't many holidays left are there?"

"Good point"; _lucky I refuelled the Tornado; Angel Island in winter should be a hoot_, "yeah, tomorrow shouldn't be a problem, I'm ready to fly as long as the conditions stay good. So, who else you inviting?"

"Well, there's Sonic and Shads of course; can't really have a party without them. Amy needs to come as well as the ASP…" Tails cut him off, trying to figure out what the echidna had meant by that but failing,

"ASP?"

"Anti-Sonic Precaution – just in case blue-boy gets a bit out of hand". There were a few sniggers from the other end as Tails made a note of that one, "just for you I'm calling Cream…"

"I'll be calling you things in a minute – get it through that knuckled head of yours we're not going out". Despite himself the echidna grinned; it felt so good to strike back at the cocky kit after the ribbing he'd received after the tickling incident.

"Ohh, touchy, touchy", there were some mutinous mutterings before he continued, "okay, this is the one I'm having trouble with; I want to see the Chaotix as well, remember them?" Tails thought back a bit; he recognised the name, but the faces behind it took a bit more thought,

"I think so, but before you ask I don't have their number".

"No worries, I'll find it somewhere. Now, I'm going to ring around the others and I'll call you back to let you know how many are coming. Sorry it's a bit short notice but it's the best I can do".

"It's cool, just make sure I've got a decent landing strip and I'll get us up there no problem. Seven in total if I'm counting right?"

"Smart-aleck".

"Makes up for you and Sonic". _Cheap and nasty Tails; just wait until you touch down_; the echidna winced and decided to end this quickly before the fox hammered him in a verbal duel.

"Okay, speak to you soon".

"Give my regards to Rouge". There was a pair of simultaneous clicks as both Mobians put their phones down and one of them breathed a sigh of relief as the other made plans for the next day.

Just before the dreaded torment could begin, the nightly torture in place and awaiting only the first drip of water to begin, there was salvation; the crisp, clean ring of the telephone split apart the taught atmosphere of the warmly oppressive room. There was a flash of blue as Shadow made a dive for his one last way out.

"Hello?"

"Ah good, one of you's in". _Thank you Knuckles_; the ebon hedgehog heard the thunder of water behind him and breathed a sigh of relief,

"Knuckles, you have no idea how grateful I am to you right now; I'll explain later" he added, almost sensing the confusion from the other side of the connection, "so, what do you need?"

"I'll make it easy; I need you and Sonic to attend a bit of a party on Angel Island tomorrow; I've talked with Tails and transport's not a problem. Just for one night I reckon, and lodgings and food are all sorted oh and you can tell Sonic so is the clearing up". That last sentence sealed the deal,

"We're in; nothing going on down here, so sounds like a deal. Who else is going, aside from you, Rouge and Tails?"

"Well, I'm inviting Amy and Cream; do me a favour and tease Tails a lot will you – I'd do it myself but I reckon that phoning a pilot while he's on the job might be a wee bit dangerous", Shadow grimaced for a second; _after what happened last time when we teased him just before going on a flight, not bleeding likely!_, "But yeah, do you know how I can get in touch with the Chaotix?" The echidna heard some muted ruffling of parchment before the hedgehog spoke again,

"Nah, sorry but we don't have a number".

"Ah rats; okay, no biggie, I'll find one from somewhere I'm sure. Right then, see you both tomorrow?"

"That you will, see you and Rouge then".

As he set the phone down, Shadow breathed a massive sigh of relief; he could hear splashing from the kitchen and that meant the delay had proved invaluable – for another night he was free. Feeling much happier with the world now, he re-entered the kitchen of his shared flat and the bottom promptly fell out of his stomach.

"I've been waiting for you", Sonic turned around slowly, watching his flat-mate through narrowed eyes as Shadow realised just how badly he'd walked into this one, "trying to trick me Shads; no way man, I know the rota like the back of my glove".

"But, Sonic, you know I…"

"So do I, but that's no excuse; it's your turn, so get on with it", he threw Shadow the prerequisite tools of the task; the black hedgehog moaned mournfully as he slid on the marigolds, "the washing up waits for you".

_This is going better than I hoped_; Knuckles terminated the call to Vanilla with a rosy glow percolating through all his being as he realised he had at least half of them inbound so far. Cream had nearly ripped off his arm to take up the offer; she'd had so much fun the last time, despite the fact there had been a lot of hard work involved with mushroom trimming and strategic rock tumbling, that she had been praying for another chance like this for ages. Vanilla was all to happy to let her daughter go; she had confided to the echidna when Cream was out of earshot, deliriously packing up like a miniature whirlwind, that meeting up with Knuckles and all his friends had really done the younger rabbit the world of good.

"She's really come out of her shell since she's been around you. She used to be a bit of an outcast, just because of her speciality, but now she's just so much happier". The echidna smiled as he realised he'd heard a story like this before,

"It's the Sonic effect; Tails used to be like that before Sonic crashed into his life and look at him now, though I reckon Ames has had a lot to do with it as well".

"Just as long as she's safe…"

"I give you my word nothing will happen to her while I can do something about it". Vanilla breathed the parental sight of relief; she knew the echidna well enough to understand that, when he gave his word about something, he would almost literally move Heaven and Earth to validate it.

"Okay, she'll be there tomorrow; I'm afraid I've got to get back into the work routine".

"Back tomorrow?"

"Day after", she gave an ironic chuckle, "can't wait".

"I'll bet…" There was a sudden shift from the rabbit's end of the line and suddenly Knuckles' ear was full of a younger, much more energetic voice,

"See you soon Mr Knuckles, thank you and thank you again". Despite his hard heart, the echidna couldn't help but smile; _she's a real mood lightener I'll give her that – at the very least she'll keep Athair amused_.

"Cool it flop-ears, I'm not going anywhere. I'll see you tomorrow then".

"Okay, goodnight Mr Knuckles. Thank you!"

"Goodbye Cream".

_Oh no, it's, it's gonna get you. Turn around, turn around now_; Amy watched the endless dance of predator and prey, preparing to turn her head away as the lions made to pounce on the unsuspecting wildebeest. Just as the first huge cat began to pick up speed, Amy jolted out of her seat in shock as the phone went off almost in her ear. She clamped a hand over her heart, the frightened organ beating ninety to the dozen as adrenaline washed around her body from the shock. Taking a second to steady her breathing, she reached out one shaking hand to pick up the receiver and the other to cut off visions of one poor grazer being dragged to the floor by the victorious lionesses. She was still a little tongue-tied however, so it fell to Knuckles to make the first move,

"Hi, Amy?"

"Y,yes, yes, sorry Knuckles, I was miles away". There was a gruff chuckle from the echidna as he pictured her gazing adoringly at a picture of Sonic in one of his various victory poses before he continued,

"Okay, well here's the deal; belated New Year get-together, Angel Island, tomorrow morning, Sonic, Shadow, Tails and Cream so far, you in?"

"You bet";_ lucky that, don't need to be in work until next week_; the pink hedgehog realised this could be just the opportunity she'd been looking for as she remembered she had a bit of an axe to grind with someone who'd be there, "we going in Tornado?"

"Yep, get to Tails' for tomorrow morning; now all I've got to do is invite the other three, but I don't know their number. Do you have a directory handy?" Amy reached over an hefted the heavy book one handed as she spoke down the phone,

"Yep, got one here, who you after?"

"Um"; _damn, what name did they go by, something about detectives wasn't it?_ "I'm not sure of the full name, but, er, you know the Chaotix right?" To his consternation, there was a strangled snort through the phone,

"Something funny?" _You have no idea; talk about irony_; Amy managed to contain herself as she spoke once more,

"Yeah, I know them; listen Knucks, leave them, to me, you want all three right?"

"Er, yeah, how do you know them?"

"I've bumped into Charmy before now; remember him, the bee? He gave me their number and we kept in touch".

"Right, well that's a bit lucky", a wolfish smile found its way onto the guardian's face, "I'll have to tell Sonic he's got a rival for your affections".

"You do and the echidna race really will be extinct"; this time it was Amy who was put off by an explosion of sniggers, "something up?"

"Coughing fit", he managed to gasp, picturing her face tomorrow, "so, see you tomorrow on Angel Island – you sure you got this Chaotix business nailed?"

"Sure as sure can be Knuckles; oh wait, you can get heating right?"

"Um, yeah, I think so; why?"

"Just trust me; see you tomorrow o noble guardian"; _and you Rouge – hope you're ready to reap what you did sow_. Anyone who knew her would tell you Amy Rose wasn't vindictive, but she'd be itching for a chance to get back at the bat for spilling her secret like Cream had said she had. There were so many possibilities, as she flicked through to the number she needed, she concluded the plan she needed, unaware that something else was drawing conclusions of its own from what had just been said.

The heating still resolutely refused to come on; despite Vector pleading, threatening and grievously abusing the ancient system with an assortment of screwdrivers, it was still cold enough to spit ice in the HQ of the Chaotix Detective Agency. It was so bad both reptile members of the agency had been forced to retreat into bed early to avoid freezing to death, leaving only Charmy the only active member. The bee buzzed around, reading from the small western book he'd managed to buy from the charity shop; _I'm so lucky, this is the first in a series and the lady said she'd keep all the others they had back for me – just need a few more cases and I'll get all six._ It was just the type of escapism the bee craved; he knew that compared to Vector and Espio he wasn't much of a team member, his only real ability being the fact he had wings and was strong enough to just about carry the other two for short periods of time. Stilling in the crocodile-sized chair, the young bee glanced down and flexed his abdomen ruefully; he couldn't remember the last time he'd properly used his stinger – metal was just too tough for it to pierce, so against Eggman's bots it was a little redundant. Still, he shrugged, his natural venom wasn't strong enough to kill but it certainly paralysed well enough; that would be a real asset if they had a case where they needed to bring the guy back alive. _Just like Sheriff Rawshire_; the bee renewed his assault on the text, his busy eyes devouring the words as he immersed himself in a world of spurs, sheriffs and six-shooters. Not even the phone going could completely curb his enthusiasm; keeping his eyes firmly on the word he had got to, the bee snatched up the receiver,

"Hello, this is the Chaotix Detective…"

"Hey Charm"; the bee snapped his book closed; escapism was fine, but there was no reason he'd want to escape this particular client.

"Ames, great to hear from you; how you doing? Oh, wait", the bee remembered his business lines a little late, "sorry, do you have another case or…" The bee blushed as the hedgehog gently laughed down the line, though he was mollified as he realised it was genuine merriment rather than the biting sarcasm he associated with Espio.

"No, no; even I'm not ditzy enough to lose two important things in one week. I'm phoning to see if you three are available tomorrow". Charmy thought forwards but, no, he was convinced there were no cases at the minute,

"I'm fairly sure we're not", leaning forwards and taking Vector's case notepad out the desk drawer, the bee made ready to take down the details, "why, what you got planned?"

"Well, I just had a call from Knuckles; you remember him right?"

"Tall red guy, not much to say?"

"More or less", _impressive – Knuckles summed up in what, seven words?_ "well, he's hosting a bit of a gathering on his home turf; he wants to invite you three".

"Seriously", excitement washed over Charmy like a surge of electricity; he was never one to turn down a party, "sounds like a blast but", his thoughts wandered upstairs, "I'm not sure if the other two would be interested".

"Two words – central heating".

"Right, well, we'll see you tomorrow then. What time and where?"

"Same time and place as last time?"

"Cool – right I'd better go break the news. See you tomorrow Amy and thanks", he dropped his voice to a whisper, "I'm dying to get out of this dive for a bit".

"Still no luck?"

"Not yet, but we'll persevere. Goodnight Amy, and thanks again".

"See you soon Charm". There was a simultaneous click as the receivers were replaced; however, while Amy went to bed, Charmy leapt upright and punched the air before racing upstairs.

Vector heard the thunder of feet rushing up the stairs but before his chilled body could react enough to close his eyes, the bedroom door he was sharing with Espio was thrown open and Charmy raced in.

"Hey guys, get up, get up, I've got something really important to tell you!" Vector couldn't even work up enough energy to get angry; Espio, however, didn't have a problem with that; glaring at the vivacious bee, the chameleon flicked out his tongue and promised,

"If you don't have a really good reason for disturbing us in this weather, people will be talking for years about the strange, unsolved case of the bee found drowned in a jar of honey". Vector finally stood up and groaned, fixing Charmy with a long-suffering gaze,

"Loathe as I am to admit it, I'm with Esp on this one", he rubbed his temples as Charmy crossed his fingers behind his back, "come on them; out with it – what was so important you had to race up here like a one of those horses out that book of yours?"

"What would you say if", Charmy left a tempting dramatic pause to irritate Espio, "I said I'd managed to get us into a place, rent free, for tomorrow that had", he threw his arms wide and his eyes grew huge and star-struck, "central heating?" Espio shot from his blankets like a bullet and gripped the bee gently by the shoulders, looking intently into his eyes,

"You're not joking are you; tell me you're not joking; if you're joking I'll stick you to the dart-board and use you for star practise".

"I'm not joking".

"YEESSS!" The chameleon threw the smaller Mobian upwards in celebration; _finally, no more threat of hypothermia, somewhere warm_. Vector was silent for a second, weighing something up before asking the youngest member of Team Chaotix the fatal question,

"Where is it, and how'd you find out?"

"Amy called me", the bee started to explain, seeing almost without meaning to the ecstatic look on Espio's face drop right off, "she said that Knuckles, you remember him right, is inviting people to a bit of a gathering at his place and he wants us for some reason".

"Can't think why", Espio said, though for once it wasn't biting; he looked at his friends and shook his head, "we're not exactly prime party material are we?"

"Depends on the party", Vector remarked casually; Charmy saw the memory dancing in the crocodile's eyes and shivered; _if it that kind of party I am not sitting near the speakers again_; "anyway, where is it and when?"

"We're meeting Amy same place same time; she'll fill us in and you", the bee speared Espio with a finger pointed right at the golden horn on his nose, "are going to be civil this time needle-nose". The chameleon flushed, fingering another of his ever-present throat sweets as he sought to answer the bee,

"Watch it buzz-boy, but, I'll try", he flicked one of his medicated lozenges into the air and caught it expertly with his extendable tongue, the orange morsel vanishing as Vector grimaced,

"How do you eat those things?" The chameleon edged on a sly smile and began talking in a pretty passable impression of Charmy,

"Well, I get the sweet out the wrapper, put it on my tongue and…Vec, er, flammable materials, flammable materials!"

A/N: Phew, all done. Sorry for the time lag, but there's been a recent upheaval in life and the fic had to suffer I'm afraid. Still, hope you enjoy the chappy; now what happens when the Brotherhood meet the rest of the crew. Utter pandemonium! Glorious!


	17. Chapter 16 Remebering and Remonstrating

Chapter 16 – Remembering, Remonstrating and Reasoning.

A/N: A nice long chappie for you to enjoy; the promised pandemonium will ensue next chapter, I just needed to set the record straight on a few things before I could launch into ruining Spectre's blood pressure (such as why Sojourner's being such a creep right now). Enjoy, but first:

Treasure Hunter (or TH as you're now affectionately know :-)) – Glad you like the fic so far; I had a read of yours and they're both pretty good, especially for a thirteen year old (I've seen uni students who couldn't write that well!). Just one thing though; Eggman/Amy – that's just wrong on so many levels…eeeeeuuuuwww!

Sonicron – Yes, what will Spectre make of our favourite formless friend? Read on and you might get a bit of an idea…

R. Wolfsbane – Hiding the bodies; well, to solve that little problem I recommend opening a link to your nearest McDonalds and letting them take the problem off your hands and into other people's stomachs (J/K). Seriously though, regarding Mucky D's, I used to work in a chicken factory and every Friday a huge truck would pull up and collect all the chicken skins we'd collected – about four or five tonnes a week. These skins would then be melted down and put into the milkshakes as a thickening agent – I AM NOT JOKING HERE; THIS IS THE HONEST TRUTH!

The steam rose gently from the cup as it was poured out with gentle movements; spillage, as the drinker had discovered last night, could be painful even if you use a cloth to mop up the water. Since the incident, the being had spent most of the night agonising whether the scald mark would be visible to the host but fortunately the redness had faded out enough to be unnoticeable to Amy in the morning. From a force of habit it hadn't yet deduced the source of the being blew the steam from the top of the cup as it swiftly manoeuvred the host into its favourite seat, near the door to the hallway, bedroom and bathroom. Though movement had long since been mastered by an incredible learning capacity, the being had nearly been caught out three nights ago by a biological need it had forgotten about; only swift reflexes and a lot of luck had prevented a potentially fatal and excruciatingly embarrassing mistake. Amy rolled her eyes and her cheeks went pink as the being recalled the indignity of that little episode in Technicolor detail; it had standards despite the fact it couldn't yet remember its own name or the reason someone had sealed it away under the earth for so long. Now though, as it took the first sip of the drink it had made, the business of the evening had to be begun; the host's conversations for the day had to be analysed, for several things she had spoken of triggered forgotten memories that could yet be learned from. The being settled back, closing the host's eyes in a gesture of relaxation, as it let itself drift back into the grey mists within itself, slowly uncovering more of what it was and what it had been. As always, the goal was the same; to find a way to become once more what it had been so long ago.

Knuckles hit the lift button and began the journey downwards once more, smiling at the way things had just for once gone completely to plan; everyone who needed to be here tomorrow was going to be here tomorrow morning. His good mood at the stroke of fortune lasted until the lift stopped and Athair breezed in, thrusting himself right into his third-son's face and chattering like a squirrel on a caffeine high,

"What did they say; are we getting guests? Are we?" _Gotta think fast_; though he'd known the flying echidna all of three hours Knuckles had gleaned enough to realise that answering yes would probably result in his ancient relative ricocheting off every wall Haven had to offer;_ what's going to get through – gotta be quick, decisive and…result!_

"Grandfather"; Athair regarded his third-son in eager, puppyish anticipation, "we've got to get back to the others; grandfather Spectre won't be very happy if we keep him waiting will he?"

"No, I suppose not", Athair looked a little whimsical as he began a leisurely backstroke down the tunnel, Knuckles following at a distance that let him avoid the airborne echidna's flapping feet by a considerable margin, "well, the faster we go the sooner we'll know; come on third-son". He put on a spurt of aerial speed, leaving Knuckles scrambling to keep up; in the gloom he was only just able to keep Athair in eye sight and he arrived in the main central dome at a sprint, almost completely out of breath; _I wasn't build for speed – maybe some of that aerial training would be a good thing_.

"Stand up sixth-son; a little jog like that should be nothing to a guardian"; Thunderhawk's voice boomed over him and Knuckles glanced up to see him still casting his strange green light over entire table. It was only when he got a little closer that he realised the Brotherhood was a little depleted. His own father was missing again; Knuckles assumed he'd left to go and try to fix whatever was wrong with the lights, but more importantly there was a space in the centre of the table.

"Where's grandfather Spectre?" Rouge looked over her shoulder to answer him, face in silhouette from the unearthly green light his grandfather's were using to maintain visibility in the local area,

"He said he was going to meditate", the guardian caught a tiny flash of whiteness in the bat's smile, "apparently I gave him a fair amount to think about".

"A truer word was never spoken", Sabre put in mildly from the semi-darkness on his side of the table, not even flinching as Athair descended into his seat from above, "I must say your friend was right grandson; it appears you were worked harder that most of us were if this talk of 'aircraft' and mass-transport is correct. Apparently height isn't the safeguard it used to be". Athair turned to his son, a genuinely puzzled look of his face as he quoted,

"It never was though son; I can't see why everyone can't fly if they put their mind to it". Though he never admitted it, Knuckles was grateful to see he wasn't the only one suffering under Athair's illogical logic; Thunderhawk rolled his eyes upwards as though pleading for just a little more strength while Sabre himself managed a very strained smile.

"If she is correct though"; _I could really get to dislike you_; Knuckles glowered at the reed-like form of his fifth-father but before he could ask Sojourner had continued, "but this is beside the point; have those who have seen acquiesced to come here?"

"Luckily for us, yes, all eight…"Knuckles was cut off as Athair shot out of his seat and zoomed away, calling over his shoulder that he was going to prepare the guest rooms as he zinged off the nearest wall and sprinted along the ceiling to a part of Haven neither treasure hunter had yet seen. When he was sure his eccentric relative was very safely out of earshot, he guardian continued,

"…as I was saying, all eight said they could make it. There's a part of Angel Island they land on; if you want to you can see an aircraft tomorrow". As the eldest present, Thunderhawk realised the decision of what to do next fell to him and he realised here was the opportunity to do two things at once; primarily he could explain a few things to the newest member of his family, and secondly he could get right under his obnoxious son's skin by giving him a little errand.

"No sixth-son; as the guardian, it is your duty to bring these guest to us. Besides", the older echidna broke out into a smile, "could you imagine what Athair would do if we let him outside?" A progression of visions swam through Knuckles' mind, each containing more chaos and disorder than the previous one; _just below Eggman or on a par with him – I can't decide._ He was startled out of his reverie by a clap from his sixth-father,

"Right, enough of that; time to get down to business – time's running out for the evening so we'd better wind up for the night. Sabre, inform grandfather Spectre and your son of this development and then sort out whatever mess Athair makes in guest rooms. Sixth-son, come with me a second and Sojourner", Thunderhawk fixed his son with a piercing glare, "you will, politely and with exceedingly good grace, escort Rouge to suitable quarters for the evening, then you may do, whatever it is you, wish to do". To his credit Sojourner kept his emotions off his face, but it was nearly as plain as day that resentment of this task bubbled just below the surface. Before the situation became too awkward, Sabre stood from his seat and gave a slight bow,

"Very well; grandfathers, grandson and guest, I bid thee goodnight" and with that he left into the murk to seek out Spectre and then his own father. Sojourner also stood up, beckoning Rouge with one paw as he looked down the tunnel he needed to follow to fulfil his errand.

"This way honoured guest", the sarcasm was faint but present; Rouge put the finishing touches to her plan of action and, whispering assurances to Knuckles that she could survive anything Sojourner threw at her, began to follow the still glowing former guardian to wherever he wanted to lead her. When the green radiance was stifled by a kink in the tunnel, Thunderhawk stood and nodded at his sixth-son.

"Walk with me a while Knuckles", the lavender echidna walked around to stand ext to his relative, pointing the path he wanted to follow with an extended arm, "walk with me and let me explain what's really going on in this mad house".

Spectre sat cross-legged in the darkness within his room; to all appearances he appeared to be in a deep sate of meditation. However, while his body was at rest, his mind, his uniquely talented, gifted mind, was in overdrive; the information he had drawn from Rouge's mind had long since been correlated and confirmed as correct – the charms around the Master had once more been activated and would secure the jewel against most other threats to steal it. Now, the back echidna's efforts were focussed on the same almost impossible task it had been bent upon solving since he had felt the power from the Master sweep across Angel Island. The ancient, folded text he held across his lap contained clues but, he smiled wearily, not definite answers to the question he, the Brotherhood, needed desperately to answer. _The gem of blood has called once_; Spectre gritted his teeth, worry lining the older fur on his face as he realised now that Angel Island had been fully released, time was shorter than even his most pessimistic estimates. _The Cataclysm approaches, the child of thorns has released us all and he will be gathering strength to strike_; Spectre took no heart from his earlier puzzling and the revelation that had brought him.

The black echidna would never be able to communicate what he could see in his mind's eye, the sheer majesty of seeing information as a stream as it flowed from the book he was holding. It was a stream of seasoned knowledge and he was at once student of its insights and master of its flow; he immersed himself within the cooling fountain of wisdom, sensing the tingle of age that infiltrated the images that swam through his mind. Everything he needed to unlock this puzzle was held within this vast ocean of ancient lore; it was an almost impossible task for an echidna, no matter how skilled or gifted, to sift through the sands to find the hidden meaning behind the prophecies from history. But Spectre was no mere echidna; he was a guardian, a distant descendent of the one who had scribed these words and he could never give up – while there was a chance to hold back the tide of threat this dire warning he could not rest. As he suspended himself, weightless, supported, buoyed up and carried by the waters of slowly flowing knowledge, he gave a small thought that he had made some progress, a tiny flicker in the grand scheme of things, but progress nonetheless. _That which was bound has been released, but not completely_; Spectre realised the time was coming, this was the most delicate phase of the process and he had to relax, be at peace with the world to attain it properly; _he is weak, unsure – if ever we are to stop him, it must be soon, the ancestors themselves never had a better chance, before the Bloodstone calls again_. With this new determination, Spectre let himself go, his psyche diffusing out through all this wonderful knowledge, merging with it, seeking within it answers to the challenge that had to be answered to save them all.

And a long way away, a very similar mind to Spectre's underwent the same process for a very similar goal.

_It was a clash of demi-gods_; the most ancient living guardian watched the scenes fly past – blurs of green, red and blue as the battle raged on; _one in pursuit of a warped, nightmarish perfection, the other striving to stop him at all costs. All feelings buried, there was no love left between them, the brotherhood between them was sundered forever_.

_There was a great battle_; the being recollected much, beginning from where it had been forced to terminate its journey the previous evening; _war – no quarter asked for or given; it couldn't be, too much was at stake, but what for? There was the conflict, but what was the prize? Who were the aggressors and what was the reason for the breach of the peace?_

_So much lost, death and betrayal from both sides – a war raged in the shadows, the other echidnas never knew, never even suspected the sacrifices the guardians of old were forced to make to save them all._

_One side had an advantage early on; there was a green presence, the evil, hateful green that hurt…me! I was a part of this battle, the war was mine, but, why? Why did I put the others in danger; what was so great that I would have taken up arms against the others?_

_The war was long and encased many generations; too many were born to fight and knew no other purposes than war; a tragedy that must be prevented, that I could prevent, if only I could know; where is it? Who is it calling, and when will it call to them again?_

_The red, the red allowed us, my side, I am unsure as to my importance as yet, to strike back. There was a term used for such situations; st, stalemate, from an old tactical game. There was fighting for a long time, but something forced the breach at last, red against green, a final conflict, the others shielded, but how? No harm to the innocents, a good thing, but who was the victor? Or, no, that is not right_; Amy straightened in her chair, face set in a mask of grim determination – it couldn't remember the whole details, but the being was able to make one conclusion from its ponderings so far; _I endure, so the battle is not yet concluded!_

"Fifth-father?" The voice penetrated the waters like a stone cast into a pond; as the ripples flickered overhead, Spectre felt the pull of mortality once more and, slowly and grudgingly like the majority of his personality, his fractured mind once more coalesced and waded back out of the fount of images and shoals of accompanying sounds and funnelled back into his body once more. Opening his crimson eyes, the older echidna let out a groan as his muscles complained at being forced to remain in one position for so long before turning around to see Sabre framed in his doorway, maintaining a respectable distance as Spectre once more found his feet in his own body. The red-furred echidna smiled, the fur of his eyebrow crinkling over the top of his monocle as he nodded at the ancient book Spectre still held across his lap.

"Taking lessons in history again fifth-father?"

"The past can teach you much", Spectre retorted, beginning to rise to his feet as Sabre moved forwards to assist him, "if you have the skill to look for it that is". The younger echidna heaved a sigh, realising what Spectre was driving at,

"Still no luck?"

"I have seen how the battle went but that is not enough", Spectre's frown depended as he pondered how best to proceed, "there's no clue as to what happened after it, and that is what we need to know, and no", he held up a single hand as Sabre made to speak, "there's still a chance we can stop this before it can happen, there's no reason Knuckles needs to know". Sabre crossed his arms; he hated arguing with his fifth-father mostly because he hardly ever won, but this time he really did feel he had to speak up in his grandson's favour,

"But he must have a right to know".

"And he will; look Sabre, as far as I can tell, there are two ways this prophesy can resolve – firstly we can stop it happening, and then we can tell Knuckles later, when he's more ready to accept it – remember he's just had a fairly traumatic few days as it is". _No flaw that I can see so far_; Sabre gave a slow nod and waited a few seconds; Spectre seemed to have fallen silent, so he prompted to break the silence,

"And the second?" Spectre looked at him with an air of long-suffering stoicism,

"You're supposed to be the intelligent one, you tell me; if we don't stop this, he'll find out anyway, though that's the last thing I want to happen. You're right Sabre, he deserves the truth and he will receive it, it's just a question of when and how and for all our sakes I'm praying it's the former". Sabre realised that once more he'd been beaten by the black echidna's logic and reasoning.

"Apologies fifth-father, I…" Spectre waved them away,

"You're young yet Sabre, and you can't see the way I do; sometimes I'm not sure if that's a pity or a mercy", Spectre put a paw on his forehead, massaging it tiredly as his advancing years, even for a guardian, began to make their presence felt, "there's not long left now, I can feel it; soon it'll give the second call and, unless we can somehow track him down or neutralise the call, he'll be released again and I doubt we can stop him, even with Knuckles". The reminder brought Sabre back to the reason he had come here in the first place and he shook himself before delivering his message,

"Speaking of the devil, I've some good news; he managed to contact all eight who've seen the shrine. With luck they should be here tomorrow". Spectre felt his gloomy mood lift slightly at this news; he rubbed his hands gleefully as he pictured himself soon swimming in undiscovered territory.

"Excellent, if nothing else we can protect the shrine should worst come to worst. Are the guest rooms ready?"

"Athair said he was making them", Sabre smiled as his older relative shuddered, no doubt recalling the last time the Brotherhood had let Athair make his own bed; they'd spent three days prizing it off the ceiling and Locke had then spent another week trying to calculate just how the bizarre flying menace had managed to hold it steady while the super-glue had set and, more importantly, how he'd managed to get the blankets and pillows to remain in place.

"Go and make sure he doesn't wreck them fifth-son; we have enough?"

"Grandfather, we have more rooms than we know what to do with; I'll return to help you when we've readied them". Spectre resumed his seat on the floor as Sabre, realising from long association that the conversation was at an end, headed for the door once more, letting his grandfather five generations removed sink back into the knowledge that was his domain, his joy and his pride.

While this conversation and meditation had been occurring, Knuckles had been following Thunderhawk to wherever the lavender echidna was leading him. The silence of the trip was broken after only a few minutes as Knuckles asked,

"So, sixth-father…"

"You can drop that right now", Thunderhawk stopped and pointed at his youngest relative as Knuckles tried rapidly to deduce what he'd done wrong, "all that grandfather business only goes on when my father's about; call me Thunderhawk, or just Hawk if you prefer". _Sounds fair enough_,

"Suits me", Knuckles replied, smiled a little as the lavender ancient breathed a sigh of relief,

"Just as well; I know I'm getting on a bit, I don't need to be remaindered of the fact". Knuckles looked his relative up and down and felt obliged to make a point in his defence,

"Well, put it this way; you're a great deal more, er, outgoing than most other centurions I've met". Thunderhawk gave a chuckle,

"I suppose, but it still doesn't alter the fact that my last birthday cake had to be lit with a flame-thrower", he gave a sigh as Knuckles bit his lip to stop himself laughing out loud, "I know they say you're only as old as you feel but look at you", he regarded Knuckles with a paternal, almost fatherly gaze the younger echidna wasn't quite sure how to react to, "pretty soon I could become a seventh-father; I just don't feel that old yet". Knuckles felt his muzzle begin to burn, though thankfully Thunderhawk had resumed walking by this point and didn't seem to notice. To conceal his embarrassment, he made a second point,

"I'd heard of a generation gap before now but you guys redefine it; seven generations".

"Consider yourself lucky Knuckles; Sabre, or was it Athair?", Thunderhawk paused for a second before shaking his head, "Well, either way, one of those two was a ninth-son; now that was fun – you might think my dad's a bit of a stickler for rules, but believe me grandfather Hawking made him look like a pussycat".

"Got a family tree handy?"

"Speak to Spectre about that; history is his department. Speaking of which, is there anything else you wanted to know about us?"

The question actually took Knuckles aback for a second; despite the information he'd received from the impromptu question and answer session not ten minutes ago, he was still burning with curiosity and now let his questions spill out of him after taking a few seconds to phrase each one properly,

"Well, firstly, why do you call Sabre quack-boy?" Thunderhawk let out a burst of laughter, the glow still emanating from his body fluctuating in response to his raise in spirits,

"Because he is boy, a quack I mean", seeing his sixth-son look perplexed, he grinned and explained, "when Locke succeeded him, Sabre decided to try and develop his unique power and he deduced the best way to do that was to study medicine. Turned out he had a bit of a knack for it; he's a fully qualified surgeon, even if he does need to wear that ridiculous monocle all the time".

"Fashion statement?"

"Necessity", the lavender echidna was quick to correct him, "he's got one eye weaker than the other and can't stand wearing glasses, so that's the best way to deal with the subject. As for the quack-boy thing, that's just harmless banter; I call him a quack and he calls me, well I've never actually heard what he calls me, but I assume it's not to be repeated in polite company". _Oh yes, not only does my family have to have a generation gap the size of the Grand Canyon, it also has to have just a touch of dysfunction too – lucky me_; Knuckles shook his head as this sank in. At least this was a light-hearted sort of joshing, kind of like the rapport he held with Sonic, that he could put with – the next issue was, in Knuckles' mind, rather a bit more thorny,

"And, um, do you know what the, like, the deal is with, um, Athair?"

At the name, Thunderhawk stopped dead, span on his heel and looked Knuckles dead in the eye and spoke levelly,

"Athair is a complete raving lunatic", Knuckles decided the best thing to do here was try and nod in what sounded like the right places and anyway, in his eyes, what his sixth-father was saying made a lot of sense, "I swear the midwife that delivered him couldn't have just dropped his egg; she must have used it for a sky-ball and completely scrambled it. The only thing that stops me going nuts is the thought that if I do I might be able to have a meaningful conversation with him and I tell you now that scares me". Knuckles forced himself to keep his face straight and asked,

"So is it true he doesn't…?"

"Of course not, he just either can't or won't admit he can fly", Thunderhawk rumbled, shaking his head as old memories resurfaced in his mind, "that must have been the most surreal day of my life; I'm waiting in the main chamber for the new guardian to arrive and the next minute he comes hurtling down the passage, kisses every single one of us, screams that this is the best day of his life and then shoots off again. I swear Hawking nearly had a heart attack on the spot; he just couldn't believe that someone like him had managed to guard the Master as well as he did". The lavender echidna shook his head to fling out the last remaining traces of that shocking day as Knuckles just about managed to stave off the oncoming giggling fit; _he might be mad as a hatter, but at least he's funny with it, unlike the next thing I need answering_; Knuckles gritted his teeth as his need to know outweighed his respect for the echidna stood in front of him,

"Thunderhawk?"

"Yes?" Knuckles grinned apologetically before taking the plunge and slicing open what he was sure would be a wound for his sixth-father,

"What happened to Sojourner?"

_So like his father;_ the older echidna took a deep breath, his memories leading him back into the past when Locke had asked that very same question. Slowly, Thunderhawk answered his sixth-son; Knuckles had a right to know everything about his ancestors, the bad as well as the good,

"It was Janelle-Li; my granddaughter, the spirits rest her soul", the older male looked at the floor for a few seconds as the mood turned undeniably sombre, "Sojourner was very close to her during Athair's early years, her death hit him so much harder than the rest of us", he paused to wipe a tear from his eye; the memory of his son catatonic, lifeless within the hospital area of Haven, doing nothing but stare soullessly forwards unblinking for nearly a month before suddenly becoming animated, a pale shadow of the man he had been – sarcastic, quarrelsome, seemingly unable to leave the past behind; _hence the problem tonight_. Knuckles silent until he was sure his relative was more comfortable now; in his gentlest voice the guardian spoke again,

"What was she like, my fourth-mother?"

"Much like your own", Thunderhawk smiled as he drew the similarities between Lara-Le and his granddaughter, "strong and forthright, but still loving, caring for those she loved, and this is why I must say this Knuckles", the guardian felt his paw seized in an iron grip and found himself drawn closer to Thunderhawk; there was a fierce, needing look in the lavender echidna's eyes that hadn't been there before as he continued, "I have seen Locke now and I fear for him – if he carries on like he does he may become something like my son". Knuckles leapt to a guess and, before he thought about it, before he even mustered a conscious thought to what Thunderhawk was saying, he found himself hissing with delight,

"After what happened with mum – he deserves it".

"Does he Knuckles?" Thunderhawk took a pace back, regarding the younger echidna and, as he had suspected, once Knuckles thought about the scenario a little differently denial swept across his face and he shook his head, "listen sixth-son, we all go through pain; look at us. Have you seen any females here?" A sudden fear seized Knuckles by the heart as Thunderhawk continued, nodding sadly,

"We all suffer the pain of losing our loved ones Knuckles; to the guardians is granted a long life, but not to our close ones, not to our partners", the current guardian staggered backwards, horrified by the realisation, cursing himself for not seeing it earlier, "Locke was a fool, but a remorseful fool; he harmed Lara-Le cruelly but he realised it. You know they divorced, well Locke…"

"He let her go; the hardest thing he had to do in his life – he told me".

"He told you the truth; he'll never forgive himself, but Lara has forgiven him, privately at least. I don't expect it to happen overnight, but maybe you can find it within yourself to do the same. I've lost my own child to grief, I'd rather be damned to all the hells in all the religious texts I know that lose a grandson as well". A lump had appeared in Knuckle's throat; pity for Sojourner, mixed well with grief, and renewed pity, warring with a petty sense of retribution, spiteful and malicious but present nonetheless, for his own father; could Knuckles really damn him for making a mistake, an easily avoided, cowardly mistake but a mistake at heart?

"I, I'll try, but, not now, it's, it's too fresh…"

"I know Knuckles; put it from your mind for now – leave it awhile and you'll see the way you need to go later on". Finishing the topic before any more pain could be caused, the lavender echidna straightened and marched on, Knuckles hurrying in his footsteps as Thunderhawk realised he was getting closer to where he wanted to be.

"You know Knuckles, there's something that surprises me".

"That being?" Thunderhawk slowed his pace a second, counting the doors that lined this corridor; he knew he wanted the ninth one but that damned Athair kept mixing the labels on the doors 'just to make things a bit interesting'. Shaking the incident with a missing label and the self-locking store cupboard from his head, Thunderhawk answered his relative,

"You never asked me", _right, this is it, here we go_; he hid a smile as the door opened and the internal lighting system he had eventually talked Locke into installing for him flickered into life, "what my gift was".

"I think I can guess from this", Knuckles said carefully as he took in the sheer scale of this working area; there were exercise machines of all types, dumb-bells, shot putts, pull bars and, Knuckles hid a smile as the sheer incredulity of the one colourful item in this place leapt right out at him, a skipping rope as well, "something to do with fighting?"

"Got it in one", Thunderhawk moved off towards the back of the gym he had installed as tradition dictated he should have, smiling as he kicked off his shoes and felt the cool springiness of the sparring mats under his feet, "I said you'd find out; none of your grandfathers lasted more than three minutes; let's see what you're made of". Knuckles gave a short bark of laughter, mimicking the older echidna's actions as he took his new jacket off, chuckling at the thought that he was about to fight someone at least eight times his age on reasonably even terms. Thunderhawk moved into a stance and brought his guard forwards,

"You probably won't listen, but don't bother holding back; there's no fun if I know you're not trying".

"I'll get Sabre on the case when I've finished with you old man"; _smart – seeking to goad me into making a rash mistake_; Thunderhawk raised an eyebrow as battle lust began to course through him.

"We'll see who needs the quack-boy three minutes from now. Last to three falls?"

"Fine by me".

"Now!"

"You can't have him, you know?" To say those words confused Rouge would have been a little bit of an understatement; she'd been walking silently behind the stick-like figure of Sojourner, feeling strangely like a pallbearer as she trailed in his wake, not speaking or offering any action to break the silence as she engaged him in his contest of solitude. By him speaking she'd just won, but the victory was hollow as she couldn't make head nor tail of what the ancient echidna was talking about.

"What?"

"You can't have him", Sojourner repeated, slowing down and turning to look up at her, expression seemingly caught between wicked amusement and silent pity as he explained a little, "my fifth-son I mean; you can't have him". _I've known this guy for three hours – he's slighted me, accused me of lying and now he's trying to warn me off Knuckles_; quite understandably Rouge felt herself begin to heat up under the collar. Speaking through gritted teeth, she brought her face very close to Sojourners, allowing him to see the fire coalesced in her eyes as she growled,

"And who are you to try to tell me what to do?"

"I am a guardian of the Master Emerald", Sojourner appeared undaunted as Rouge tried to carbonise him with an inflammatory look, "and I am doing what is best for both the Master Emerald and my fifth-son". The words sank in and, to even her disbelief and concern, Rouge actually found them funny; Sojourner looked at her as though she'd lost her mind as she suddenly started laughing; not sarcastic or malicious, but genuine, mirthful laughter rang from the steel walls of Haven.

"And, and you reckon", Rouge managed to gasp between fits of laughter, "you can tell Knuckles who he's going to settle down with?" Sojourner nodded once, completely serious as Rouge doubled over again; _boy are you in for a wake-up call_.

"If necessary, yes, thought I trust my fifth-son's judgement implicitly"; that was all the opening a master wind-up artist like Rouge needed; keeping her laughter up in a smokescreen to divert attention away from how she was planning this, the bat giggled once more, noting how Sojourner appeared unable to handle laughter like this.

"Right, you trust your fifth-son?"

"As I have said", Sojourner let impatience into his voice as Rouge set him up, "I trust my fifth-son's judgement; when he has become more aware of his own people he'll realise that his affections for you run only skin-deep". For a second Rouge nearly lost the plot as that condemnation reached her ears; _skin-deep, how dare you – alright grandpa, stick this your pipe and smoke it_.

"Right, okay, I'll accept that; Knuckles should make his own choice", Sojourner nodded and walked away, seemingly satisfied that he'd got his point across; Rouge let him keep that illusion for about fifteen seconds.

"Sojourner?"

"Yes?"

"You know these guest rooms", Rouge waited until he had nodded before wiping the grin off her face and asking innocently, "do any of them have double beds?"

The echidna skidded to a halt and whirled around, face a picture of horror, disgust and rage as Rouge carefully maintained her façade of neutrality whilst jeering him from behind her eyes. For a second all was silent as the echidna tried and failed to comprehend her inflection, before suddenly the walls echoed and magnified his wrath,

"What, what do you mean?" _To be cruel or not to be cruel – no question there_; Rouge widened her eyes and cocked her head, giving a compelling portrayal of innocence as she replied,

"Well, Knuckles and I usually sleep together now", not even she could keep the hint of a satisfied smile off her face as Sojourner looked ready to either explode or faint from this hammer blow, "and his bed's rather small and rough, at least when we get a chance to sleep there, so I wondered if we could make it a bit more comfortable this time". Sojourner stood before her, eyes like pinpricks, nostrils flaring and mouth working soundlessly; utterly unable to voice his denial, disbelief or utter disgust at the bat's simple words. Just before Rouge decided to put him out of his misery and admit the truth his reflexes kicked in; _this can't be true, my fifth-son would never…I can be sure_! Like lightning, Sojourner lashed out and Rouge felt a hand grip her forearm tightly; before she could voice a protest either verbally or through universal sign-language, there was a flash of green and she felt a sudden tug forwards, time standing immobile all around her as she realised what was going on.

Knuckles saw the fist coming but there was no way he could avoid it; he realised, a spilt-second before it connected with a rush of pain and air from his lungs, that this was it. Thunderhawk capitalised from his advantageous blow and, as his sixth-son dropped his shoulder due to loss of air, moved in close and delivered a double axe-handle to the younger echidna's exposed shoulder blades, dropping him unceremoniously to the mat before hopping backwards agilely.

"That's three Knuckles; I win"; _though only just_; Thunderhawk added privately, watching the guardian with renewed respect as Knuckles pushed himself to his feet once more, raising his guard out of habit before his grandfather's words penetrated the haze of his battle-rage. Gulping down air, the younger echidna let his fists drop to his sides, going into a slight crouch as he let his body re-oxygenate itself after the fast and furious fight he'd just been through. He looked up, a little ashamed at his loss but respecting the calibre of his opponent anew; he grinned ferally as Thunderhawk likewise began to let himself cool off,

"So, how long was, that then?"

"Four twenty-six – must be getting old to let a whelp last that long"; _I've never been pushed that hard, not even grandfather Tobor could fight so well_; Thunderhawk realised that his sixth-son was indeed something else and would have said so, when suddenly the entire interior of his room was lit up by a blinding green glare. For a second the lavender echidna thought Locke had managed to get the lights back on, but when a sudden small figure rushed over and clamped onto Knuckles he realised something else was going on.

Swiftly reorienting himself after using his power, Sojourner glanced around for the one person who could disprove this impudent bat's ludicrous claim. He had to know and threw himself at his fifth-son, unaware of how much deeper he was digging his own hole as he did so. Shaking Knuckles, still blinded by the ostentatious entrance, vigorously by the shoulders, Sojourner roared into the younger echidna's face,

"Fifth-son, there can be no truth to these rumours; tell me it's all lies and…" Thunderhawk finally recollected his bearings and suddenly gripped onto the scruff of his son's neck, hauling him backwards off Knuckles as Rouge, dragged along for the ride, smiled from behind Sojourner's back; _and now the real fun begins – I never planned for it, but what the hell._

"What are you playing at?" Thunderhawk's face flushed both in anger and shame of his son's actions; as always, he smothered the shame in anger and bellowed at his son, "we were nearly in the middle of a fight then; what would have happened if one of us had been distracted? Damn it Sojourner, sometimes I swear even Athair's got more sense than you". Startled by his father's rage, Sojourner suddenly realised this for what it was; the bat had set him up and he'd not only walked right into it, he'd bloody well gone and made it a thousand times worse. _No way out now_; he tried desperately to try and find some kind of bright side to this unholy mess; _at least I can rid myself of these suspicions_. Twisting out of his father's grip, Sojourner brought himself up short and shook himself down, cursing under his breath as he addressed Knuckles,

"Fifth-son, whilst walking with our guest, she, uh, informed me of some rather, interesting news". _Oh did she now;_ Knuckles quickly glanced over his fifth-father's shoulder to see Rouge smirk and raised one hand whilst twirling her index finger – her sign for a wind-up. Keeping his emotion under wraps, the current guardian assumed a grave face and put his hands on his hips,

"What news was this fifth-father?" Sojourner swallowed, burning up as he realised that both Knuckles and Thunderhawk were paying close attention to his next words; he could practically feel Rouge smirking away merrily behind his back.

"She, ah, asked if, any of Haven's guest rooms came equipped with, er, double beds", he felt his face flush and glanced down, finishing quickly as Knuckles looked on amazed, "she then admitted that the pair of you had, well";_ damn you for doing this Rouge_; "you had, slept together in the past".

Thunderhawk shot his gaze to Rouge in time to see her raise a placating hand; he guessed there was a rational explanation to this and his son had simply leapt to a conclusion, and a particularly grim conclusion at that. In the meantime, Knuckles was a little torn between aiding in his girlfriend's scheme or terminating it now to spare Sojourner's blushes.

"Well fifth-son, have you slept with Rouge?" _Or I could do both_; Knuckles mentally thanked his fifth-father as he decided to do the best of both worlds; putting himself into neutral mode, the current guardian answered frankly,

"Well, yes, we have slept together", the intake of breath from both older echidnas was tangible; it was only to spare his sixth-father that he kept the pause as brief as he did, "I don't know if you've noticed, but it's freezing out there. Sharing bedding's the best way to preserve heat while you're sleeping, especially recently when we were exploring the new regions of Angel Island", he suddenly narrowed his eyes and put a hint of reproach into his voice, offering Sojourner a much-needed escape route "why; fifth-father, you surely didn't…"

"No", Sojourner snatched his chance as he became aware of Thunderhawk drilling into his temple with a steely glare, "no, of course not fifth-son. I was merely, applauding, your knowledge of field-craft. Now, if you'll excuse me", he gathered the tattered shreds of his dignity up and re-realised the significance of the night, "I have more important things to do. Goodnight to you all". Without a second glance, he vanished under the effects of his emerald-granted powers.

For a second after his disappearance all was still, before Rouge let out a triumphant hiss and struck her victory pose, grinning at getting her own back on the snobbish echidna after an evening of put-downs and one-upmanship. Knuckles shook his head as he regarded her antics, though he couldn't help but smile at the skill Rouge had of catching people out like that.

"You wind-up merchant", Knuckles put his hands on his hips and tried to look serious as Rouge sauntered towards him, "stop teasing my family, however much they might deserve it". Thunderhawk himself cracked a smile at the ridiculousness of his son's overreaction, though it was tinged with ruefulness; alone of the trio here, he knew why Sojourner was so protective of his fifth-son; _the same reason I should be_. Putting that line of thought from his mind, the older echidna heaved a sigh and laughed slightly, looking at the bat openly with new respect; anyone who could wind his son up so tightly had to be worth a look in his eyes,

"Well, I can't say he didn't deserve it, but really Rouge, I do wish you hadn't done that". Feeling a sore point springing up, the bat let go of her jubilant mood and flattened her ears respectfully,

"I'm sorry Thunderhawk, maybe I should have known better; is there some reason why not?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow", the lavender echidna offered before smiling once more, "and don't worry about it; I know Sojourner can be, difficult at the best of times. Now come, beings as he's seemingly abandoned his task, I guess it's up to me to get you pair settled in for the night". An epiphany bolted into Knuckles' brain and he straitened, putting a hand on his sixth-father's arm to forestall him before turning to his partner,

"Wait a second; Rouge, come up here a minute", not quite sure what he was up to, the bat nonetheless stepped up onto the mat and approached as Knuckles smiled wider still, "Hawk's just been showing me his unique gift; apparently he's quite the fighter. I just set a new record against him, want to see if you can beat it?"

"Is the M.E. green?" _Just as well, I could use a bit of a brawl after that little episode – just the thing to help me blow off some steam_; the bat dropped into her stance as Thunderhawk's eyes widened as he looked at the bat in astonishment; it had never even crossed his mind that someone as attractive as she was could have been any kind of fighter.

"You, you're sure about this?" Rouge smiled at him, not the first time this kind of misunderstanding had cropped up and, she doubted, unlikely to be the last either,

"You bet I am". Thunderhawk grunted and dropped into his stance as Knuckles vacated the mat and turned to watch, raising his voice as he took up the role of impartial adjudicator.

"Neither of you hold back; Rouge is at least as a good as I am if not better…"

"Creep".

"…and Thunderhawk is a testament to the power of the Master despite his advancing years".

"Just wait until this is over boy". Knuckles chortled as he raised a hand and called,

"First to three falls loses; ready and, now!"

With a heavy, final thump, the book was closed; Sabre glanced up to see Spectre filter back into his own body and slam shut the book he'd been…Sabre smiled – the word hadn't yet been invented that described what Spectre was doing when he was immersed in a text like he just had been. The black echidna shifted once more as Sabre stifled a yawn, once more disturbed by how much time had passed and how, again, it seemed like they had accomplished frighteningly little, as though time itself was working against their efforts to deal with this new and very real danger before it could gather its strength and crush them.

"That's enough for tonight fifth-son", Spectre heaved himself to his feet and stretched, the vertebrae of his back clicking noisily as he did so, "rest up for now; we can continue in the morning, before the new guests arrive".

"As you wish fifth-father", Sabre hauled himself up, shaking his head as he carefully rolled up the ancient, faded map he'd been reading from and replaced it carefully within the parchment binder, "any luck?"

"Nothing of merit" the black echidna admitted, sifting the last vestiges of information back into his mind as he readied himself for the last task of the evening; Sabre saw the gleam enter his ancient relative's eye and, realising it was probably a wasted effort but trying anyway in an effort to kept he peace, Sabre attempted to dissuade him,

"Fifth-father, where are you going?"

"Where else", Spectre strode over to the door of his library-like room, scattering loose tatters of paper like dead leaves as he did so, "to have a not-so-gentle talk with my grandson".

"Fifth-father…" Spectre stalled further argument with a raised hand,

"I know what you're about to say Sabre and no, this can't wait until tomorrow. Sojourner's behaviour was unacceptable and I intend to find out why he thought it necessary to play the fool in front of Knuckles and his guest". Sabre realised it was hopeless; Spectre had his heart set on bringing this out in the open tonight and nothing short of a mandate from the Master Emerald itself would stop him.

"Very well grandfather; goodnight".

"Goodnight fifth-son". With that, Spectre was gone and Sabre was left alone in the semi-darkness; as he set the map case back to its proper place, the spurred echidna breathed a sigh of resolve; _Sojourner, wherever you are, I hope you've got a damn good explanation and an even better head-start._

Looking up from her prone position, Rouge blinked and forced her lungs to accept air once more, not quite up to the task of standing up just yet after that haymaker. A sudden presence eclipsed the light overhead and he squinted up to see Knuckles peering down at her, a smug look on his face as she guessed what had happened.

"Was it over four?"

"Four sixteen" Knuckles confirmed, "close, but no cigar". He reached down and helped the bat to her feet, gingerly letting her find her feet as he silently admired her resilience; that last punch from his sixth-father had lifted her off the floor and it was a testament to her will that she was on her feet as quickly as she was now.

"Damn", a new voice cut in, Thunderhawk rubbing a small spot on his left thigh as he looked at Rouge sternly, "I'm going to have a fine bruise there and no mistake girl".

"Well you did say not to hang back".

"I did", the lavender echidna conceded before smiling and offering his hand, "typical, good challenges are like Athair's good ideas; you wait eighty years for one and then two come along at once". Rouge smiled saucily as she shook with Knuckle's ancient relative, chiding him gently,

"Don't pick on Athair; I think he's", Rouge tried to come up with a word that could encapsulate just what Athair was, "he's, different". Thunderhawk let out a bark of laughter as he began stretching off,

"You and the rest of us, though different isn't quite the word I'd use. Now", the older Mobian reassorted his priorities and realised it was time to put the matter to bed, quite literally, "I'll show you to your room, and yes we do have a double bed, but I want your words there'll be nothing untoward under this roof". Knuckles blushed as Rouge winked at him, adding to his embarrassment as she nodded at Thunderhawk,

"Well, it'll be a struggle, but I'm sure I can convince Knuckles to keep his hands to himself for once". The sixth-father couldn't quite keep the smile off his face as Knuckles glowered at his partner while confirming the deal,

"Sometimes I think you were put on this world to embarrass me batgirl".

"You love me really".

"True, but I wonder why". Rouge pouted as she caught the echidna out again,

"Now if we hadn't just made that deal I'd give you a reminder…"

"Enough", Thunderhawk terminated that train of thought before he managed to convince himself he'd just made a horrible mistake, "just, shut up and follow me before I change my mind about this". The lavender echidna bowled out the door, partly so he could drop these two off and get to his own bed quicker but mostly so they wouldn't see the redness creeping across his own face; _that bat's something else – if anyone will know it'll be Spectre, but I can't help wondering if the rules can't bend just this once._

Spectre allowed his emerald gift to sweep all areas of his ancestral home; another of his common powers allowing him to find his offspring in a confined space such as this. So far, he could tell that Athair was currently in his special room; _no doubt letting out his excitement of meeting new people tomorrow_; the black echidna managed to shunt his insane descendent for his mind as he located the one he needed to have a word with. As he expected, Sojourner was in his room, perfectly still and probably sleeping. _Well, my dearly cherished and loved grandson_; Spectre ran his lines through his head on last time as he approached the door of reckoning; _you're in for a rude awakening_. There it was; Spectre recognised the plain wooden door and drew back his fist to knock on it, only to see it open soundlessly in front of him. From within the darkness, a voice, a cold, hard voice that only Sojourner could have spoken, beckoned him,

"I've been expecting you grandfather; please come in". Reasserting himself from this unaccounted for start, Spectre shrugged his shoulders determinedly and walked inside, face hard and red eyes glinting as he saw the kneeling form of his grandson on the floor, facing away from him,

"Well grandson", Spectre began as he weighed up what this situation might result in, "start talking".

"What would you like me to talk about grandfather?"

"Don't play stupid with me boy", anger rose in Spectre's tone in the face of his grandson's obtuseness, "you made a complete fool out of all of us, but especially yourself, in front of Knuckles and more importantly his guest as well. Why?" Sojourner's tone never changed, even as Spectre visibly swelled with anger at the lengthening time lag. When a response came, however, it managed to do what had been thought impossible; Spectre was visibly shaken as a low, dark chuckling filled the air and his grandson rose slowly to his feet, turning to glare at his relative in equal parts malicious victory and resigned betrayal.

"The mere fact you ask that question proves what I've long suspected", Sojourner snarled at his grandfather as Spectre failed to see the point he was trying to make, "she would have been a hundred and two today; I don't ask for much Spectre, two days a year";_ so that's what this is about_; Spectre closed his eyes as he both cursed his grandson for his inability to rest old ghosts and his own forgetfulness in failing to remember what this day actually was as Sojourner continued, "you could have called council without me and let me make my introductions tomorrow, would that have been so difficult? No, but still you forced me to go and…"

"…And you decided to bring your grief to share", Spectre cut off the tirade before it could any further, his black robs billowing from his body as his anger began to manifest itself, "by the Master Sojourner I thought you were better than that; would Janelle-Li want you to forsake the rest of your family to remember her?" The younger echidna snorted mirthlessly as he swept his arms apart,

"I don't know, I can't exactly ask her can I?" Spectre's temper, frayed by his grandson's stubbornness, finally snapped and his voice echoed from the walls in a roar,

"Sojourner, Janelle-Li is dead! Unless you stop living in the past, you're no help to the present!" Even as he vented his frustration, Spectre realised he'd blown his chance to win this battle; anger couldn't make Sojourner see the truth, it only entrenched him further in his position of refusing to let go of his daughter, refusing to accept the truth that she was gone.

"She'll die when I die, not before", Sojourner glared right into his grandfather's crimson eyes, a fire so strong it verged on fanaticism smashing through the truth of the matter, blinding Sojourner to all points of view bar his own, "you all may be content to forget about her, but I will never betray her memory. This matter is over; I will be alone for the rest of the night". Realising that even his logic couldn't reason with the force of Sojourner's beliefs, Spectre made to depart, halting just long enough to set one thing straight,

"We will never forget Janelle-Li, Sojourner; to say so is a falsehood against all the code of the guardians stands for". When he received no reply, the black-furred elder left and slid the door shut with the finality of a coffin closing, a slight tear in his eye as he realised once again how deeply his grandson had been damaged by both his loss and his inability to accept that it had happened.

"Rouge, hand me your pillow a second"; a little perturbed by this request, the bat nonetheless handed over her head cushion, keeping a close eye on her boyfriend's movements as he took hold of it. Knuckles nodded in thanks, gently removed his own pillow from behind his head and then suddenly pressed them both down over his face, drowning his screaming in the thick material. Rouge laughed silently with him, remembering just how often she'd been forced into that little trick as the shrieks wore on, Knuckles venting all the confusion, worry and concern of a seriously tumultuous day in an understandably verbal form. She waited for the noise to abate and watched as slowly, the echidna removed the pillows from his face and offered one to her.

"Bottom one please", eyebrows raised, Knuckles swapped the pillows over and Rouge settled her head onto it, twisting over to look at him side-on and grinning, "ah, that's better; nice and toasty from all that hot air you were blasting into it". Knuckles sighed as he replaced his own head rest, worn out after a long and stressful day; he couldn't even manage to muster enough to banter with the batgirl.

"Talk to me babe", rolling his eyes over to her, Knuckles saw Rouge propped up on one elbow, looking at him expectantly as he tried to order his thoughts, "if nothing else I've got things I need to say too". Knuckles was silent for a few minutes before managing to start the ball rolling with a great heave,

"What did I do – first off I'm having a whale of a time with mum and Wynmacher; I really liked him by the way", Rouge nodded her agreement, though with everything she'd been exposed to today it felt like weeks, rather than hours, since she'd last met the brown echidna and Lara-Le herself, "then out of thin air my dad shows up and promises to help me solve the mystery of what Echidnopolis is doing here. Naturally I'm bound to go, though I'm still not sure what to do about him…" Rouge broke in here quickly,

"I have to say", he glanced over as she smiled and patted his hand under their shared blanket, "I'm impressed by that; you let him have a fair hearing rather than just flying off the handle. I doubt you're sure, but what do you think of Locke so far?" The guardian sighed and shook his head, looking up at the ceiling as he considered his answer,

"I think he was stupid, no more than that, he was incredibly stupid and wilfully blind to what he'd put mum through, but he tried to repair the damage as much as he could when he realised it. He's hurt mum and he's hurt himself to try and heal her equally badly; it's a real mess and no mistake. Thunderhawk said he was afraid that dad would be lost to grief if he carried on the way he did – I know he cocked up big style, but I don't think he deserves that, no-one does. But apart from that", he put that thorny issue aside for now and chuckled slightly as he remembered what came next, "I then meet the rest of my family, all seven generations of them, bar one" he added, respectful of his deceased fourth-mother. Rouge was curious; she had her own opinions of each of the other echidnas that shared Haven but it would be interesting to see how closely her thoughts correlated with Knuckles's,

"So, what do you think of them all?" The guardian smiled and chortled as he ticked them off on his fingers,

"Spectre seems alright, but the only thing I've got against him is the fact you can never tell just how much he knows. Still, he's got a cool head and looks like he can keep the rest of them in order. Thunderhawk's a complete warhorse – reminds me a bit of Nack in a way I suppose; not afraid to speak his mind and not much time for pleasantries", Rouge smiled as in her mind she superimposed Knuckle's sixth-father and her former guild comrade and realised he was right; Thunderhawk did have several startling similarities with the one-fanged weasel and she considered that a good thing in a way. She resumed listening to Knuckles as he realised the next echidna in the list and his tone hardened,

"Thunderhawk said there was more to Sojourner than we saw – something about how he never got over the death of his daughter, but I don't think that's an excuse to snub you the way he did. Still, I can't really judge him until I know more of the story and Thunderhawk said he'd let me in on more of it tomorrow. And then we get to Athair; the grade A lunatic".

"I liked him" Rouge mentioned innocently; Knuckles goggled at her disbelievingly as he spluttered,

"Rouge, he's completely bananas; there's not a sane bone in his body – when I was going to get hold of the others, he said I could fly and then dropped me from the ceiling to try and prove it". Rouge dissolved into a fit of the giggles as he said this, picturing the scene flawlessly as she gasped,

"And di,did you fly?"

"I glided back to the floor; he said that was the same thing. But anyway", Knuckles tried to shift the conversation away from his eccentric grandfather as thinking about him too hard gave him a headache, "the last one's Sabre – I talked to Thunderhawk about him. Apparently he's a qualified surgeon and has a weak eye, that's why he wears his monocle. So there we go; I've got a huge family on my father's side and just to top it all off they can all do emerald stunts as well. Levitation, mind reading, teleportation, the Thunder Arrow, you name it and it's in there somewhere, and just to make sure I don't feel left out they tell me I'm going to get them as well as I get a bit older".

"Yeah, that's a worry", Knuckles flicked his gaze over to the batgirl as she smirked cheekily, "you with powers like that; I shudder to think what could happen". Knuckles returned the smirk as he realised one perk those powers might have,

"Well, for a start I'll be able to tweak your ears from a distance", Rouge looked over in horror and clamped her hands over her head as Knuckles grinned, "better start getting into my good books batgirl, but I digress", the echidna got himself back on track with a resigned sigh, "so yeah, that's my family, then just to go and throw oil of the fire Spectre says that I need to invite everyone who's seen the M.E. to Haven; that means we're going to have Sonic cooped up in a place like this, Tails getting his hands on more machinery than I feel comfortable with and I barely know the Chaotix as it is. It's going to be a disaster – oww, my head hurts". Knuckles folded his hands over his muzzle, exhausted by his lengthy speech and worrying about what would happen next. As he breathed rhythmically to settle himself, he felt the weight next to him shift and Rouge's hand on his shoulder; he didn't resist as he was slowly rolled over to face her and he felt her comforting presence more up closer. Smiling, she reached forwards and placed a small kiss on his forehead, just below the hairline; Knuckles sighed and took her hand as she settled back down,

"Feel better?"

"Miles" he admitted truthfully, Rouge reassuring him as she began to speak up,

"Well, for a start as far as I can make out most of your family's cool in its own way, barring one exception", the bat wasn't quite ready to forgive Sojourner despite what Knuckles had said in his defence, "and anyway, you of all people should know Sonic's a people person; he'll get on fine here and so will Amy. Shadow's pretty quiet anyway and you said Cream really wanted to come when you offered".

"I'll say", Knuckles ran the conversation through his head again, chuckling as he recalled the young rabbit's frantic calling of her mum and endless questioning as she'd pleaded with Vanilla to be allowed to go. The echidna glanced over at Rouge, growled playfully, slid an arm under her and suddenly squeezed tight across her shoulders, smiling as she cuddled up next to him.

"Thanks batgirl".

"No problem Knucklehead", she patted his hand and stroked the fur of his guardian crest; comfortable and safe with each other, both treasure hunters drifted off into sleep once more.

_The battle wore on_; the being was certain it had been involved in some kind of fight, some last battle that should have decided the fate of the prize;_ all the power of the red was with me, and I used it against the bale green, the last hope of the enemy. It was settled on neutral ground, the others, the innocents and other warriors of both sides were shielded somehow, I can not remember the method used to…_ the being suddenly cut off as a very disconcerting sensation began to burn its way slowly through the host's body. _She is awakening, but that should not be possible! There is still much of the night left and,_ it's gaze fell on the cup in front of it; for the first time since its rebirth into the flesh, the being realised the full emotion of panic; _the drink! It has stimulatory properties and is causing the host consciousness to awaken! There is little time!_

Amy bolted to her feet, grabbed the cup and swiftly emptied the remaining contents down the sink, rinsing it quickly as the being realised it had less than a minute left to repair as much damage as it could. The pink hedgehog lurched from the kitchen into the hall, her eyes beginning to flicker open as the being fought to retain control for just a few more seconds, sucking to remove the taste of coffee from the host's mouth. With its last effort, the being caused the host to leap into its bed and pull the covers up before rapidly slinking back into the recesses of Amy's mind, just before the host retook full control of her body.

A/N: All finished and can't you just understand why Knuckles is nervous? Next chapter come the promised pandemonium!


	18. Chapter 17 Getting There's Half the Fun

Chapter 17 – Getting There's Half the Fun…

A/N: Right, bit of a new system here; as there are going to be more groups of people in these and future chapters, XXX will mean a change in group i.e. the action could flick from Sonic and Knucks talking to Tails and Cream catching Rouge and Shadow at an embarrassing moment (oops, hope I didn't give too much away there…:-)). I'd like to thank Liquid Silver for suggesting this system.

HHH – Two partly sane flying creatures – I think you mean three (you forgot about Charmy – poor little guy's always getting left out).

With a sudden jolt, Amy threw herself upright, eyes open and pulse racing as she threw herself out of her dream and found herself back in her own body. _Wow_; she brushed back her quills with one hand as she calmed down and recalled the last sensations she could remember; _that was some dream – I was going at an all out sprint_. She chuckled quietly as she rubbed her tongue with her teeth; _ah well, at least there were no dark tunnels or, hold it_! With a sudden sharp intake of breath, Amy realised that she actually could taste something in her mouth – her brain racing as it registered the slight smokiness that she detected on her tongue. It was too faint to recognise though, and in a second that was forgotten as the sudden urge that had probably caused her to wake up demanded her attention. As she rose to head for the loo, she paused for a second in amazement; if her bedcovers were anything to go by, that must have been a really realistic dream – they were churned up as though she'd dived onto them and scrambled about a bit.

A few minutes later, Amy was ready to go back to bed, but for some reason she felt strangely disenchanted with visions of sleep. Though it was still pretty early, just past six o'clock, she really didn't feel tired at all. _Probably just excitement_; she told herself as she headed for the kitchen – it wasn't every day Knuckles made the offer he had the previous evening and she had some serious planning to do regarding the best way to make the most of it. She had just begun to plan ahead as she entered her modest kitchen; she took one look around and all those thoughts few away like a flock of frightened birds.

Though she appeared energetic and perhaps even a little random at times, the pink hedgehog was by and large a creature of habit; she had a set routine and didn't like to deviate from it too much. One of her habits was that she always did the clearing away from her meal before she went to bed; she knew from long experience that if she tried to kid herself she'd do it in the morning she could guarantee that before she knew it there would be an absolute mountain of dirty dishes to wade through. The sight of a single cup, upended and resting on the draining board, therefore set off several alarm bells; she wouldn't have left it like that, not in a million years. Amy stiffened, thin tendrils of unease beginning to percolate down into her mind as she walked slightly closer to the offending mug, sticking up from the stainless steel draining board like a sore thumb. Curious, Amy reached out a hand and picked the porcelain utensil up; she gasped as her fingers came into contact with the smooth material – it was still damp! She quickly picked it up and upended the cup, watching with a thrill of horror as the small drops in the interior flowed down to the bottom of the cup to form a rivulet of water. _That was done recently, and_; Amy looked closely, running her tongue along her teeth again to jog her memory as she caught sight of a small brown stain on the lip of the mug; _yes, if I'm any judge, I'd say there was coffee in this_.

For a few minutes she was immobile, holding the cup in one hand as her brow was furrowed; she couldn't be a hundred percent sure because she hadn't really been paying attention, but she could almost remember that, when she'd woken up there had been a feeling of dampness on her hands, especially her left one. Could that have been caused by washing something like a cup? Groaning, the pink hedgehog pulled out her seat and slumped down, holding her head in both hands; another outbreak of sleepwalking was really not what she needed right now. It wasn't something that happened to her often, but every time she went wandering in the night something embarrassing happened; she chuckled a little and her cheeks went red as she remembered the last time. Her shock had being woken up by her next-door neighbour, having somehow managed to walk out the front door, lock it behind her and then fall asleep on the landing dressed in only her nightie, had been exceeded only by her embarrassment. Luckily the human had been sympathetic; he had suffered the same problem as a child and promised to keep her secret and due to the early hour she'd been able to get back to bed before anyone else caught a glimpse of her. _Still, if we're up there in the open, that could be a problem_; Amy was smart enough to realise that wandering off in the middle of a winter's night on Angel Island could be at best a serious problem and at worst potentially fatal; _I'll have to let Knucks know about that – he'll know what to do_.

_Knucks_; the name intrigued the being as its vast processing capacity managed to effortlessly join the dots; _someone lives upon Angel Island – could he help me find out? How could I approach him, and what does the host know about Angel Island?_ For a second, the being realised it had a source of information available that had never occurred to it before – apparently, the host herself had some experiences with Angel Island, a place lodged prominently in the memories of the being. _Could I access the host's memories safely when I have control? An interesting theory; all avenues of opportunity should be explored, it's the only way to properly come to a conclusion, my experiments taught me that, whatever those experiments actually were._

It was probably the coffee that meant she couldn't go back to sleep, and now she was awake at this time Amy really realised just how boring the world is at six-thirty in the morning. There was absolutely nothing on the telly that she could muster the slightest interest in, no-one was up and about at this hour and she was even denied the pleasures of cooking a big breakfast. The last thing she needed was to feel travel sick on the Tornado, especially as she couldn't exactly expect Tails to stop on the hard shoulder for a couple of minutes; so it was that she spent most of the time until the appointed meeting with the Chaotix wandering around her apartment, occasionally browsing some of the books on her shelves, fixing herself a light breakfast when the time came and stretching out. Eventually she was able to catch a little shut-eye as she cat-napped for minutes at a time, resting herself for the festivities that were bound to start happening when they arrived on Angel Island.

XXX

"C'mon, c'mon", Charmy, up, washed and dressed, burst into the other bedroom that Vector and Espio shared, sprinting over to the bed that contained the crocodile and shaking the covers, "guys, get ready; we don't have all that long left". There was a sudden growl and a scaly green arm shot out from under the covers, cutting the bee off by the simple process of squeezing his vocal chords shut. A guttural growl sounded out as the leader of team Chaotix emerged, every tooth exposed as he dragged the insect closer.

"Charmy, how many times have I told you…"

"But…" Vector widened his satanic smile as the bee struggled to breathe,

"…in this weather, Espio and I need to sleep as much as possible…"

"I know but…" Charmy tried to prize off the grip around his neck as Vector fought down the urge to have an impromptu breakfast in bed. Shaking the younger Mobian a little as he loosened his hold a fraction, the crocodile explained the situation again,

"…we need our sleep to stop freezing to death…" Heaving a deep breath into his lungs, Charmy finally managed to wrench himself free and bawl at the top of his lungs,

"Vector, it is nine thirty in the morning; we have one hour to get ready and get to the park!" For a second it didn't sink in; the crocodile flicked his glance sideways to the battered bedroom clock; as he caught sight of the flashing digits displaying 9:31 he gave a whole new meaning to the term 'cold-blooded'. Panic washed into him as he threw himself out of bed, bellowing,

"Esp, get going; we're late", as the chameleon groaned and rolled over, Vector turned his furious attention to Charmy once more, "why the hell didn't you get us up earlier?" As the bee mock-hanged himself, the crocodile realised the stupidity of his question and gave another almost-blush.

"Ah, yeah, sorry".

"Save it", the bee forgave the crocodile just to speed things up a little, realising that time was of the essence here, "just get the Karate Kid presentable and I'll try and get breakfast fixed". There was an irritable snarl and a purple hand emerged from under Espio's blankets, holding something silver; Charmy dashed outside and slammed the door just as a ninja star thunked into it.

"Damn, missed".

A short while, a very rushed breakfast and a grudging apology from Espio later and the Chaotix were ready to roll. Vector hastily threw the last bag in the boot of the car and closed the lid down gently; even in his haste he recalled that slamming it could result in the bumper falling off and he had neither the time nor the inclination to weld it back on again. Running a checklist off, he realised he had forgotten at least a dozen things but, he decided, forget it; the plants could look after themselves for a couple of days and worst come to worst Charmy could drink a couple of extra pints of milk, sour or otherwise. Throwing his hands up at it all, the croc opened the driver's door and thrust his keys into the starting motor, twisting around as the engine spluttered and then coughed into life,

"Buckle up and hold tight, we're still runnin' a bit behind schedule so I'm going to have to up the tempo".

"Right", Espio gripped onto his seatbelt as nightmare visions of the last time Vector had driven a little faster than normal; prolific swearing, a decidedly dodgy set of traffic lights and a roundabout with tyre tracks going over the top of it featuring predominantly, "shall I take medical insurance or just write a will here and now?"

"Can it frilly"; looking behind him, Vector simultaneously pulled out and closed Charmy's book, "don't read in the car, it'll make you ill. Right, we're off". Before either of his team mates could protest, the croc's foot hit the floor and with a stomach-churning lurch, they were on their way.

XXX

_Where am I?_ Knuckles wasn't exactly a morning person; it normally took him a few seconds to gain his bearings after a heavy night's sleep and this was no exception – he was convinced his ceiling had never been that shade of grey. _Come to think of it_; the echidna squinted up at the offending roof; _wasn't my cabin made of wood?_ He shut his eyes and counted to ten, his fuzzy memory eventually clearing and allowing him to remember where he was – he was in Haven, the ancestral home of his five grandfathers and his father; _I came here yesterday and, more importantly_; he smiled as he glanced over to his left; _I didn't come alone._ Knuckles smiled as Rouge slumbered still, her gentle breathing pervading the air as he decided that it was time for them to both be up. He couldn't be sure of the time as the view of the sun isn't so great when you're who knows how far underground, but he was almost certain that it was time to get up and face the fresh new day. He didn't rush unduly as he was fairly certain that his ancestors would have a way for him to get to the Tornado's landing strip in plenty of time, but still, it was better to be safe than sorry. Now how was he going to wake Rouge up – he smiled at how she'd managed to get one over on Sojourner and secretly he agreed with what she'd done, but still, she didn't know that and if he remembered rightly, she was ahead of him by a bowl of bitterroot soup. _Hmmm…aha!_

Rouge felt something gently tickle one of her ears and swatted at it sleepily, moving slightly as she remained mostly unconscious. Knuckles smiled as he gently touched her ear again and saw a small frown break out on the bat's face,

"G'way" she murmured, rolling away from him as he decided to end this; he flicked the bat's ear and jerked away as she sat up straight, glaring at him as she stretched off,

"You have no idea how much I want to kill you right this minute", she announced bad-temperedly, flexing her wings as Knuckles tried to look innocent at the same time as grin widely, "torturing my poor ears; how low can you get?"

"A lot lower", Knuckles smirked and wriggled his fingers, "it could have been your feet".

"Don't you dare", the bat's legs shot upwards as she hugged her knees close, shuddering as memories of last time flooded through her mind, "try it and I'll shave your dreads off". The guardian laughed and reached across; Rouge hissed and stuck her tongue out, but overall didn't resist as he hugged her, speaking light-heartedly,

"I don't doubt it, but anyway", he released her and sat back, looking down for his shoes, "we've gotta get going; I'm not sure what time it…" There was a sudden bang as the door to their bedroom shot open and chaos arrived unannounced.

"Hello third-son and pretty Rouge".

"Athiar!" Knuckles felt his cheeks burn as he hid both himself and Rouge under the blanket, forgetting that she was wearing pyjamas and he hardly wore clothes anyway, "do you mind…"

"Not at all"; the flying brown echidna breezed over to the bed itself; it was only then that Knuckles realised he was wearing a colourful apron and most of his equally colourful spines were obscured by a voluminous chef's hat, "I love cooking and grandfather Spectre said I could make you breakfast in bed".

"Really", Rouge spoke with a hand obscuring her lips; she didn't want to risk offending the third-father as she realised just how silly he looked, "that's very nice of him, and you". Athair smiled over at her as he settled down at the foot of the bed,

"Yes, he said 'if he can survive your cooking we'll know he's the guardian', so I tried my hardest to make something special". He set down the two trays he'd carried in with him on the covers as Knuckles looked dubious – it didn't seem like grandfather Spectre made jokes often, but then again Athair's cooking couldn't be that bad, could it? Compared to Shadows? He rolled his eyes down at his tray and his stomach immediately added its vote to the 'yes' majority.

"Well Athair", Rouge eyed the steaming grey mush as though it could leap up and bite her, which given the way it seemed to be sloshing about on the plate, she wouldn't have put past it, "that's, er, well it's certainly different". The brown echidna nodded until his chef's hat slipped over his eyes; as he straightened it he spoke again, proud of his achievement,

"Yes, all my recipes are unique"; _praise the Lord_; the thoughts of more than two bowls of this stuff existing could have put Knuckles off eating for life, "I don't like book recipes, they're all so hard to follow, so I make it up as I go along. This is made from pepper, batter mixture, sugar, marzipan, treacle, nuts, chopped apples and raisins – I call it Guardian's Relish. Now hurry up", he pointed at the spoons he'd left in the bowls, "grandfather Sojourner is ready to take you to where you need to go". If there was anything he could have said to drag Rouge's attention away from the slithering creation in front of her that was it.

"Wait, Sojourner's taking us?" Athair's smile dropped for just a second and he bowed his head as he caught sight of her disbelieving face,

"Yes pretty Rouge; grandfather Thunderhawk told me what happened last night and I can only say sorry. Yesterday was a, well, it would have been my mother's one hundred and second birthday".

"Oh Athair, I'm sorry", the bat bowed her head as a tear appeared in the brown echidna's eye and Knuckles realised why Sojourner had been so tightly wound up last night. The flying echidna smiled as he wiped his eyes with his free arm and spoke again,

"It's not your fault; Sojourner wanted to spend the day alone like he normally does but grandfather Spectre said he couldn't – he was going to meet the new guardian", Athair beamed at his third-son as Knuckles understood the situation better with each passing word, "so, he wasn't in the best of moods – he never is on those two days".

"Two?" Rouge spoke before she could stop her natural curiosity welling up; if nothing else she wanted to know when else to avoid the elder guardian's foul mood. Luckily Athiar didn't take offence to the question,

"He's alone when it would have been mother's birthday, and on the day of her death, he locks himself alone in her room. But anyway, no more of this", he clapped his hands as though scaring away the darkening mood that had crept up on the room, "eat up and then he'll take you to see your friends. Oh I can't wait; I'll have to look my best to meet the guests". Without a second look, the loony echidna span overhead and rocketed out the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Guardian's Relish he calls it", Knuckles took a spoonful and let it fall off the spoon, upon which it fell and impacted on the rest of the gruel in the bowl with an audible splat, "I call it how to poison your relatives in one easy step". Rouge found herself sharing his sentiments; much as she liked Knuckles' madcap grandfather she just could bring herself to even consider eating any of the soggy newspaper I front of her.

"Just for once I agree with you; question is, how are we going to get rid of it?"

"Trust me I'll think of something", Knuckles looked at his supposed meal again and shuddered, "when it's either an excuse or eat something that deadly there's not really an option".

About fifteen minutes later, Knuckles wandered into the main meeting hall of Haven, rather unsurprised to see most of the other guardians present; only Athair seemed to be missing and, not wishing to speak ill of his family, he considered that a bit of a mercy. Sabre glanced over; it was only as the light reflecting off the doctor's monocle shone right into his eyes that Knuckles realised what was different today – the lights were back on.

"Greetings grandson, where's Rouge?"

"Just getting washed up and dressed", Knuckles took a seat between Spectre and, to his chagrin, Sojourner as well and waited patiently for Rouge to appear. Just as he made himself comfortable, he felt a tap on his arm. Glancing down, he saw a small parcel was being offered to his seventh-father; keeping his eyes straight ahead, Spectre breathed out the corner of his mouth,

"Guardian's Relish?" Realising the apparent want of secrecy, Knuckles whispered back,

"Yep".

"Flush it?"

"'Fraid so". The ancient echidna rolled his eyes and used his emerald power to tap Locke on the side of the shoulder; when the mechanic looked around, Spectre mouthed 'plumbing'. _I think I just lost my appetite_; Locke slowly sank his head into his hands as memories of the last time any of Athiar's food had gone down the drain; _set like cement and didn't taste much better either_.

XXX

Tails had gotten everything he could prepared; it was now just a matter of waiting for the others to arrive. He wasn't all that surprised, therefore, when the doorbell rang ten minutes before it was supposed to – Sonic had never been on time for anything in his life as he always, no matter what time he set off, managed to arrive early. The fox hopped off his settee and stretched, heading for his front door as the bell went once more. Reaching up, Tails pulled the heavy wooden structure open and began,

"Hey bro, fancy a…Big!" The huge purple cat smiled down as Tails did some frantic reconfiguring in his head; before even his fantastic I.Q. could make much of a start on it though, the cat spoke,

"Hullo Tails; don't worry, I won't be staying long".

"Umm, right, oh sorry, please come in"; Tails stepped to the side to let Big enter his home but the mighty Mobian smiled and gently shook his head, raising one of his plate-sized paws,

"No need, listen I just came here to say this", he crouched down, lowering his voice to sort of a baritone whisper, "I went for a bit of a night fish yesterday, and while I was landing a large brown trout, something in the water caught my eye. I went in and fished it out, no pun intended", Tails smiled as the cat licked his lips, "and after I wiped the mud off it I realised what it was. It was a Chaos emerald".

"You went fishing and found a Chaos emerald?" Tails had to laugh after taking a couple of minutes digesting this news, "it could only happen to you Big". The cat replied with a gruff chuckle, his yellow eyes crackling with mirth as he nodded in agreement,

"Yeah, I know; after the trouble they caused me last time, I don't want anything to do with them. I wasn't sure what to do, so I thought I'd come here first thing".

"Good idea", Tails lit up as he realised this could be a really good stroke of fortune; _neutralise a Chaos emerald as well as have some fun – I like it_; the fox looked up at his oversized cat friend, "do you have it with you?" To his disappointment though, Big shook his head,

"Nah, sorry; I wasn't sure if it would get in the way of your experiments, so I left it at home". Tails sighed in defeat, though he rekindled himself enough to pat Big on the arm,

"Well, don't worry; reason I asked is because we're off to Floating Island not long from now; we'd be able to take it to Knuckles and he'd get rid of it for us. Still, no matter; thanks for letting us know".

"My pleasure, I don't like those rocks, they made Froggy go all ill". At that moment, a second voice cut in as Sonic made his belated early appearance, Shadow by his side.

"Hey Big, what're you doing here – Knucks invite you too?"

"No, I don't think so. I haven't heard from him since Christmas, Rouge either for that matter. What's the invitation?"

"Knucks said something about a New Year get-together", Sonic grinned as he shook the cat's paw, though he became slightly more serious as he remembered some of the conversation he had overheard, "what was that about a Chaos emerald?"

"I found one last night while I was fishing, it got stirred up when the fish I was fighting thrashed in the shallows. I wanted to know what I should do with it; I'm no expert on the things so I came looking for someone who was".

"Don't look at us then", Shadow broke in, chuckling as he too greeted the purple Mobian, "what colour was it?"

"Umm, it was the yellow one, I think, or was it green; I haven't really had a good look; I just want it off my hands". Tails decided the best course of action from this information and snapped his fingers,

"Well I'll tell you what Big; next time we're off to visit Knuckles, I'll drop by and collect it. And anyway, we're all off to Angel Island now as it is; why don't you come, I'm sure neither Knuckles nor Rouge would mind". _I don't expect him to…nah; gee Big, what is it with you and going places?_; the kit held back a sigh as Big shook his head,

"No thanks; I'm not keen on flying, but if you don't mind, who else is going?" Shadow thought for a second as he silently counted his fingers; after a couple of mental notes, he stood tall to answer the cat,

"There's us three, Amy and Cream as well", Big smiled as he pictured meeting his tem mates again, albeit a bit unexpectedly, "and, I don't know I you know the Chaotix?"

Laughter boomed out suddenly as Big's memories were jolted by the name; with crystal clarity, memories of a silly little fight over nothing, some reparations and then fighting together to defeat the deadly Metal Overlord flitted past in the cat's head.

"Yes, I remember the Chaotix – Vector Crocodile, Espio Chameleon and Charmy Bee; I just hope they don't remember me too well". _Impressive_; Shadow looked anew at the purple cat as he recited the names; _I hardly even knew them, but then again…yeah, now's as good a time as any_; clearing his throat, the black hedgehog looked up as he remembered the events of a few days ago.

"Speaking of memories, how did you draw those pictures for Amy and Cream?" Shadow pressed on as Tails and Sonic both realised he had a point here that had slipped both their minds, "those were works of art man; how'd you do it, and from memory as well?"

_Uh oh_; Big licked his lips as he tried hard to hide his nervous smile; there was a very simple reason why he'd been able to do it but he really didn't want the rest of his friends to find out; _I know I'm a freak, I remember the calls – it'll never happen again_. Twisting and wringing his massive hands, the cat shuffled his canoe-like feet and looked sheepishly at the two hedgehogs and fox,

"I, er, just practised a lot, and took a lot of time over them; I've got lots of spare time on my hands, especially when it's raining, so slow and steady won the race", he tried to change tack slightly, "did they like them?" Tails pricked his ears and smiled a little before glancing upwards,

"Tell you what Big; stick around for a couple of minutes and you'll be able to ask them yourself".

XXX

Back in Haven, Knuckles was pretty much ready to go; Rouge was just finishing off what Thunderhawk had passed to her under the table; the look on the lavender echidnas' face had spoken volumes about what he thought of Athair's refined palate. As the eating finished, Spectre rose to his full height and addressed the entire room.

"Right, seventh-son and Rouge, you know what you need to do, correct?" The current guardian nodded sombrely,

"Yes, we are to bring the eight who have seen the Master back to Haven; however", all four echidnas paused as Knuckles echoed Spectre in rising to his feet, "I want to make a few points clear before we do". Spectre nodded as Knuckles held up a single hand,

"Firstly, none of these guys are echidnas, but they are all my friends; I want you all to understand that and try to act accordingly", he gave Sojourner a piercing look, though the fifth-father didn't appear to notice as he sipped from his drink, looking tired and pale as he reflected on a long night of remembrance, "I hate to say it, but blood isn't yet thicker than water in this case".

"Understandable", Spectre empathised with his much younger descendent; he was quietly impressed that Knuckles had managed to come to terms with the fact that, quite literally out of nowhere, suddenly a large family had appeared in front of him and wanted him to be part of it. _It took me weeks to accept I was no longer alone; was it due to these friends that he was able to adapt so quickly_; Spectre stored that line of enquiry away as he realised his seventh-son was speaking again,

"Second, I might need to explain some things before I can get them to come with me; how much can I say?"

"As much as is necessary", Spectre answered without a moment's hesitation, "tell them everything if they need to hear it; believe me seventh-son, nothing at the moment matters more than determining what these individuals think of the Master. I do not wish to think ill of your friends, but until I can prove they are as trustworthy as you say they are, we must assume they are a threat to the safety of Angel Island and";_ no harm in reminding him_; "all the echidnas of Echidnopolis as well". The black echidna hid the fact that these Mobians were, in fact, the second most important thing on his mind at the minute well as Knuckles nodded; in his ancestor's shoes he'd probably have felt the same way.

"And last but not least", Rouge piped up, causing everyone to look at her as she smiled benignly, "how do we get from the Tornado's place to here, and does this place have parking for something a fair bit larger than the car we arrived in yesterday?"

"Good point"; Knuckles turned to his seventh-father, arms wide as though embracing the truth, "no point getting them on the island if we can't get them to Haven". Spectre allowed a devious smile to appear on his lips, watching with amusement as all the other echidna barring Knuckles shifted backwards at this, remembering the last time he'd smiled such a smile with perfect clarity. _As well they might_; Spectre gave a snort of laughter even as his mind traced backwards the route it needed to take and sorted the best way to transfer the data to Knuckles; _locking them in a cupboard playing elevator music was the least they could expect after that little stunt with the vacuum cleaner and the ping-pong balls on All Fool's Day_.

"Come here seventh-son", Spectre pulled off one of his gloves as Knuckles approached, having a vague idea of what the black-furred elder was planning and trying to clear his mind in an effort to be ready for it, "I'm just going to give you the route in a manner that will ensure you won't forget it".

"I don't think that's possible; if it's in there, good ol' Knucklehead'll find a way to forget about it", Rouge winked and blew a kiss as Knuckles smiled at her promisingly before inclining his head to let Spectre reach up and graze his scalp with his finger tips.

True to his word, Spectre ensured the route remained lodged in Knuckles' mind for years afterwards; it would later become a party piece of his to draw the line from the Master's shrine to Haven on a plain map of Angel Island with his eyes closed. The way was shown from above, from ground level, as first-person, third-person and as an omni-present being all at once and separately. To the guardian it felt as though a lifetime had been spent memorising the same details over and over; when he was released from his apprenticeship, he staggered backwards, catching his balance just as Spectre seated himself again.

"I, er, I see what you mean seventh-father", Knuckles put a hand to his clammy forehead, swiping the cold sweat from his brow as he looked at his relative anew, "that was, most thorough".

"Glad you appreciate it" Spectre replied with a small smile as he gestured to Sojourner; without a word, the smallest guardian stood and beckoned with each of his hands, "Sojourner will take you to the shrine of the Master; it is best for him to transport you all to a place he is familiar with". Rouge looked up at Spectre's grandchild with a calculating expression of compromise; don't mess with me and I won't mess with you. His face didn't change, but she reckoned that had been enough to get through as he offered a hand to her first. She took hold, but just before Knuckles could take his, a voice rang out across the hall.

"Wait a second".

It was Locke; the former guardian rose from his seat and strode over to stand in front of his son. Knuckles' face betrayed nothing, not even when Locke reached over and put a hand on his shoulder and spoke gravely,

"Good luck son; once more the safety of Angel Island is in your hands".

"I know" was all he said in reply; nodding politely, he brushed past his father before taking hold of Sojourners other hand. With a final glance around the hall, the fifth-father suddenly activated his emerald power and with a bright green glare vanished from Haven, taking the pair of guardians with him.

Locke remained where he was for a few seconds, aware of the eyes of his grandfathers on him but strangely not caring as Knuckles' impassive face manifested itself in his mind's eye. The elder echidna closed his eyes, trying to grapple with the feeling of hollowness that expression gouged in him; _my own son refuses to recognise me_. Much as he accepted the fact he had been a terrible parent and an even worse husband, the realisation that Knuckles wouldn't yet trust him as a son should trust a father bit him deeply. Slowly, he made his way back to his seat, slumping down in it just in time to hear Sabre's voice in his ear,

"I know son", Locke glanced over as his own father tried to give a reassuring smile, "it is the same for all guardians – it will take time for Knuckles to realise you for who you really are. I had the same trouble with you; remember how long it took you to come to terms with me as your father?" There was a chuckle from across the table as Thunderhawk, tone mirthful but eyes serious and agreeing with Sabre, nodded,

"And just our luck that Knuckles seems to have inherited your stubborn streak". Much as he tried, Locke couldn't stop himself smiling at this, even if he did still have concerns that, though his son might recognise him as a father, he might never accept him as such; _I hurt his mother and him badly, through my own idiocy_; Locke shivered as his mind grudgingly entertained the malevolent possibility that Knuckles would hate him for that terrible betrayal. Still, there was no point worrying about it now; as grandfather Spectre had impressed on them all, their efforts had to now be focussed wholly on solving the riddle of the past and preventing the Cataclysm that was hinted at. Locke was not a scholar; his talent lay with machines and science, so most of his effort had been focussed on keeping Haven running. It had taken him half the night to figure out what was wrong with the lights and it had been very late indeed before he managed to crawl into bed after jury-rigging some wiring to keep it in place for a couple more days. _Just need a couple of hours to rewire the circuit breakers, should be able to do that before the guests arrive. Still, it can wait for a bit._ Locke didn't often forget things due to his attention to detail; however, the many and varied misadventures that were to characterise the rest of the day would eventually prove to much for even his memory and the task slipped away. However, as things turned out, Locke's forgetfulness of that one little task would prove invaluable to help another member of his family a short while in the future.

XXX

The interior of the Master Emerald shrine lit up as Sojourner arrived, releasing his charges as he crouched and took a deep breath,

"Is this alright; you can find your way to where you need to go from here?"

"You bet", Knuckles eyed his fifth-father with something approaching concern as he realised how much the Chaos Control seemed to have taken out of Sojourner, "are you alright?"

"No fifth-son, I'm not; using my gift is draining but", the smaller echidna turned around and both Knuckles and Rouge raised eyebrows as he appeared to bow slightly at the giant form of the Master Emerald before approaching it reverently, "the Master will aid me; this is another power you will realise Knuckles, you can call on the Master to replenish your strength should you have need of it – what the Master takes with one hand, it gives with the other". Sojourner placed a single hand on the nearest facet and stood still as that side of the great gem glowed strongly; Knuckles couldn't be sure but he almost felt like he sensed a sudden change of something, some power within the structure of the shrine itself moving, filtering into the immobile form of Sojourner himself. Without another word, the former guardian suddenly vanished once more, leaving the guardian and Rouge alone in the wilderness of Angel Island once more. The echidna was stunned for a second as he took this news in; _soon I'll be able to harvest the power of the Master itself_; it took a shake on the arm from Rouge to snap out of it.

"Come on Knucks, the others won't take long to get here and it's still a bit of a way to go to the landing pad; race ya!" Without a backwards glance, the bat span on her heel and ran; Knuckles took a second to catch up and tore after her, roaring,

"Cheat; just wait 'til I get my hands on you". Rouge shot back over her shoulder,

"Wow Knucks – one night of abstinence and you're a maniac next day". Just for once Knuckles counted himself lucky that he was behind the bat; at least this way she couldn't see the blush spread over his cheeks as he heard her laughing.

"Shut…up…batgirl". He snarled as she leapt into the air and flew over a clump of bushes in the way, earning more of a lead as he had to slow down and wade through them for a second; _if I beat you there batgirl, I swear you will never live it down!_

XXX

Cream peered out of her window, gasping in anticipation as the roof of her friend's house became visible in the distance; soon she'd be flying in the Tornado again. She loved the feeling of controlling a vehicle like that in the air; the sense of freedom and release from the worries of the world and school like nothing she'd ever had before. _I'm so lucky I've got a friend like Tails_; the rabbit smiled as she remembered the fox patiently explaining the controls of his vehicle, sitting next to her as she took her first flight in the mighty machine and, she shook with silent giggles, plotting with her as they got even with the three hedgehogs teasing them by fooling them into thinking she was flying the plane badly.

"Come on mum, faster, faster, we're nearly there". Vanilla chuckled as she saw her daughter press her face almost to the glass of her window; she changed into fourth gear as she made the last turning towards the fox's home and simultaneously answered her child,

"Nearly there are we", she pressed the brake a little, "well you know what they say; more haste less speed…" Cream's face fell as she realised what her mum was up to and she flopped down in the seat and crossed her arms, face frowning as she muttered under her breath, unfortunately forgetting just how good her mothers hearing actually was,

"No fair, big meanie mum", Vanilla pressed the brake slightly harder, dropping into third as Cream darted a mutinous glance her way, "just lives to spoil my fun", second gear was beckoning as the car bled off speed and Cream finally saw the error of her ways. Thinking fast, the younger rabbit beamed like a sunrise and spoke again in a wonderful, praising voice,

"I mean, er, she's great and caring and kind and…" Vanilla finally let out her repressed snigger as she gunned the accelerator and pinched her daughter's cheek,

"And you're a little sweetie when you want something"; Cream went slightly red as she fought off her mum's fingers and poked her tongue out the corner of her mouth, breathing a sigh of relief as she saw there was only about five hundred yards away. A couple of minutes later, the car came to a complete halt and Cream threw her door open, fumbling with the catch for her seat belt as she realised with joy that there was an unexpected friend present.

"Hi everyone"; all four other Mobians waved and shouted hellos as Cream appeared from the passenger seat of the car, bounding around to the boot as it popped open. The younger rabbit threw the boot open and flew upwards, using her ears to levitate as she reached in for a large rucksack; as she pulled it free from the boot, Vanilla appeared from around the other side of the car and walked over to the rest of the Mobians clustered in and around Tails' front door.

"Hey Vanilla; traffic alright?"

"Yeah, it's actually fairly light today", the elder rabbit smiled as Sonic grinned; luckily he'd never been bothered too much by other road users as he was usually nimble and quick enough to avoid them, "so, all ready to go, and when can I expect my daughter back again?"

"Knuckles said not too long; well before school time if that's what you're worried about". Vanilla realised this was fine; she trusted the others implicitly, especially Amy as it appeared Cream had adopted the pink hedgehog as an older sister and in her more whimsical moments, Vanilla could see where she was coming from in that.

"That's all okay; I spoke to Knuckles last night and he said he'd make sure she stayed safe…"

"And he's not alone in that" Shadow added, quick to offer further reassurance to the rabbit as she smiled; _at least she's got friends she can trust, which reminds me…_; Vanilla suddenly put her hands on her hips as she glared up at Big, remembering something that had happened just a few days ago.

"Which reminds me you", the cat lowered his ears as the rabbit made her feelings very plain indeed, "why on earth didn't you let me drive you back to the Ruins; I knew you wasn't coming to the Boxing Day Bash, but really Big, it wouldn't have taken thirty minutes". The cat looked at the floor and flushed; he didn't think he'd done anything wrong,

"Didn't want to cause a fuss", the cat mumbled, looking up shyly as the rabbit frowned, "I enjoy walking and I knew you'd be tired, so I just let myself out and walked home. Good day for it as well" he remarked as Vanilla sighed,

"Well", the explanation and the tone it was delivered in had knocked the stuffing out of any residual anger she may have felt, "all right, but next time at least leave a note". Big smiled and nodded as Cream, hovering slowly as she dropped her bag to the side of her, flew right into him and hugged the soft fur on his chest.

"Hey Big guy"; the gentle giant rubbed his smaller team mate's back gently as she flew up to perch on his shoulder, "thanks a lot for the picture; it's really good and mum got it framed for me. Can you teach me to draw like that?" Once more a few choice memories resurfaced in the large cat's mind and, after a minute, he discerned an answer that would both satisfy Cream's curiosity and keep his rougher edges hidden,

"Well, there's not really much I can teach there", he continued quickly as Cream's face fell at this, "it's just a matter of taking your time, remembering all the little details and just being patient. In the end how I drew them doesn't matter", he reached up and plucked the rabbit off his shoulder and set her on the ground, "the question is if you liked them or not".

"You bet I did" Cream assured him before turned and making introductions to the others; by great good fortune she managed to remember in the nick of time that Sonic despised the word Mr. As she finished giving Shadow his customary hug around the neck, a sudden bang and clank of metal caused all five heads to turn.

_Never again_; Amy swore to herself; _never, ever again_. At least it was finally so nearly over – the pink hedgehog saw the familiar outline of Sonic's brother's house with an undisguised sigh of relief. She was not the only one either,

"Okay guys, nearly there" Vector announced cheerfully, provoking a storm of thanksgiving from the back,

"Thank you", Amy did a double-take as she realised it was Charmy rather than Espio who was delivering the prayers of deliverance; the bee rubbed his sore abdomen as the past fifteen minutes driving took its toll, "oww, my poor stinger; Vec, I know you're not the biggest bang in the firework display, but generally in the realms of common sense trying to go cross-country in a car with no suspension is a very, very bad idea".

"Hey, we got here quicker didn't we?" Amy glanced over disbelievingly as her tail throbbed from the repeated shocks of going over more potholes that she had thought existed,

"Yeah, but we're all black and blue…"

"Not us", Espio smirked as he realised how lucky he'd been, "Vec and I can't feel much through our skin; ain't it great to be a lizard?"

"You said it Esp", Vector spoke sagely as Amy was sorely tempted to test that statement with a little help from her trusty Piko Piko hammer; before she could reach for it though, the crocodile spoke again, pointing ahead over the dashboard,

"Hey, looks like we're just in time; no need to thank me…"

"Just as well", Charmy muttered from the back, still irritable from the bumping his butt had received, "we weren't going to". Sighing as once again his brilliance was drowned out in ingratitude, the leader of Team Chaotix pulled their car to a halt outside Tails' place, just behind the green convertible he assumed belonged to Cream's mother. Unclipping his seat belt, the crocodile threw open his door and emerged into the nippy air.

_Yes, that's Vector_; Shadow counted off the members of team Chaotix as they emerged from the car; _now I know he's a chameleon but his name's gone and, why's Amy walking like that?_ The black hedgehog grinned as Amy, and the bee as well, walked towards them stiffly, faces pinched in pain as though movement itself was a torment.

"Hey everyone", Vector waved as he took in who else was here; he hid his trepidation of the big purple cat that had sat on him last time they'd met, along with the little rabbit; _all of team Rose now we've brought Amy_. Fortunately neither of them seemed like they wanted an encore to that last misunderstanding; the cat nodded in greeting as the rabbit shrank a little closer to the fox Vector recognised as Tails, seemingly scared of the large crocodile as he approached.

"All right Vector", Sonic feared no-one, least of all someone he had at least a passing acquaintance with; he held out a paw that the crocodile gently slapped with his tail before he laughed and pointed at the two lagging passengers, "what did you do to those two?"

"We took a bit of a short cut", Charmy used his wings to spare himself the chafing as he walked, "TGG over there decided we ought to save time by cutting across a couple of fields".

"So, I do that all the time when it's safe to" Tails put in; Amy silenced him with a paralysing look,

"There's no suspension in that car; my tail is completely numb and I've got two dead legs". There was an outburst of giggling as this sank in, though Tails managed to recover and ask the bee,

"Sorry, but what's TGG?"

"Tall, green and gruesome", a voice from nowhere answered, chuckling as everyone bar two looked around in confusion; Vector merely crossed his arms,

"Esp, quit fooling around".

"Just training", the chameleon defended himself as he rematerialised in his normal purple colour, "no-one saw me disappear due to my ninja stealth".

A short while later, once all the introductions were made, Shadow clapped his hands and addressed the rest of them,

"Right, we're all present and accounted for. Now we need to get going; Knucks said he wanted us there by the morning and if that echidna's anything he's got a keen eye on the time. So, Tails, is the Tornado's ramp down?"

"Yeah, I've stored all my luggage and I'm waiting for the rest of it; after that it's a plain flight". The blue hedgehog gave his brother a thumbs-up before Shadow continued,

"Right, so if we all get packed up; Cream can say goodbye to her mum and then we'll be on our way. How's that sound?"

"Fair enough"; Amy spoke for the general majority as the proposition made a good deal of sense, "throw us the keys Vec and I'll get the bags out the car". With a tinkle and flash of flying metal, a set of car keys flew through the air towards the pink hedgehog's waiting hand. Espio moved with her to carry the bags as most of the remaining Mobians hefted their meagre packing and headed around the back of the house towards the waiting plane. Cream hung back a little, flying up to hug her mother one last time,

"Bye mum; see you in a few days". Vanilla squeezed her child reassuringly, kissing her softly as she set her back on the floor,

"Take care Bun, but remember to have fun; school next week". Cream clamped her hands over her ears and moaned,

"Noooo, don't remind me; I can't wait to grow up and get away from there". There was a deep bass chuckle as Big rubbed the back of her head and scratched her ears,

"Don't feel bad about it Cream, at least you'll be able to see all your friends again".

"I guess", the rabbit glanced up, somewhat mollified by the cat's words but still a little put out by the mention of the dreaded six letter S-word; she smiled up as Big cast a glance behind him, "are you going soon Big – I know you're not coming with us?"

"Yeah, I've said what I needed to, so I may as well…"

"Get buckled in", Vanilla finished for him, sternly smiling as the cat looked up alarmed, "I'm not letting you get away a second time; I'll drive you to the outskirts of your home and you can walk from there". _That's nice of her, but really, I don't want to be a bother_; Big twiddled his thumbs as he tried to answer the older rabbit,

"Thanks for the offer Vanilla, but really, don't trouble yoursellfff"; the rest of his sentence was cut off – the rabbit had seized him by a couple of whiskers and smiled politely, Cream in the background trying not to laugh at her huge friend's predicament,

"Sure you don't want a lift?" The cat was smart enough to take a cue and shook his head as much as was possible without plucking out his own fur,

"I'd be delighted".

"Good, glad I could persuade you", Vanilla dropped her hold on the cat and hugged her daughter one last time, "see you later Bun; now go catch up with the others".

"Bye mum, see you Big". Both older Mobians waved as the rabbit hefted her bag and disappeared around the side of her two-tailed friend's house, waving as she went; the last sight she had was of Big being led towards her mum's car; _poor guy, but then again mum always said she had a great talent for persuasion._

"Hey Cream, all sorted?" Sonic called over as he caught sight of her approaching the Tornado, a rucksack over one shoulder as she took to the air in short, skipping steps. He jogged over and took the weight off her arms, allowing her to hover freely by his side as he walked back to the Tornado comfortably,

"Yeah, just said goodbye to mum; she's really jealous you know", Sonic raised an eyebrow as Cream smiled and explained, "she's got to go back to work tomorrow and she's really not looking forwards to it – she wants to go to Angel Island someday".

"Well, if she gives us a bit of warning I'm pretty sure I could beg, whinge and plead something off Knuckles; Big gone too?"

"Yeah, he said bye – well, actually he said 'ow, ow, ow, ow'; mum offered him a lift back to his home in the car and twisted his whiskers until he said yes". Sonic tried to picture this and in the end snorted with laughter; the vision of Vanilla quite literally leading Big by the nose was just too funny not to laugh at, especially as the fully grown rabbit barely came up to Big's chin (which, he reminded himself, was a good deal further up than most of the others came).

"What are you giggling at Sonikku?"

"Apparently Vanilla's got a bit of a mean streak; she just dragged Big into her car to drive him home, not taking no for an answer if Cream's telling it right". Amy flicked her eyes to her airborne friend and smiled,

"Mean, pushy, downright devious at times; reminds me a bit of Cream on a good day".

"Hey", the rabbit upped her speed and careened towards Amy, snarling as she recognised the gentle rebuke and exaggerated her reaction to it, "you better apologise for that Ames, or feel the wrath of the Cream Constriction". Latching on to her elder sister the rabbit wrapped both arms around the hedgehog's neck and squeezed gently, avoiding Amy's attempts to grip hold of her by pulling herself in close to her back.

"Sonic, help!" The rosy rascal fell to her knees, twisting to look at her friend pleadingly, eyes theatrically wide and voice strangled, "get her off!" The blue hedgehog felt his shoulders shake at the sight in front of him; tempted though he was to pull the rabbit off Amy and team up on her, his sense of fair play wouldn't let it happen,

"No way; say sorry after that".

"Never", Amy hissed, beginning to lower herself to the floor, falling under the insidious influence of the choke-hold, "I'll not say it", she fell to her hands and knees, trying to twist her head and look Cream in the eye, "you'll, have to, kill…meee!" With that, she collapsed to the dirt, eyes closed as Cream finally let go, poking the hedgehog with a toe as Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Reckon we ought to bury her?" _Result_; Cream grinned a little as she realised this was one way to get the better of the blue hedgehog; widening her eyes to puppy level, she turned and looked up at him tearfully,

"Sonic, please help her; I like her, I never meant to hurt Amy, you can save her".

"Really?"; _news to me_; "how?"

"You wally"; _you can thank me for this later Ames_; "use the kiss of life".

Sonic's face fell through the floor, but to his credit he managed to reassert control after a couple of seconds, thinking desperately of a way out of this one. Cream had just suckered him into the neatest trap he'd ever been set, and from someone who was used to verbally scrapping with Rouge that was saying something. Luckily, working his memory backwards a little did the trick; _time to play these to at their own game_.

"You're right Cream"; _really_?; "she needs help and only I can do it – stand back, this could be dangerous". The rabbit goggled as Sonic set his jaw and moved up next to her prone friend; she'd been expecting him to race aboard the Tornado. Meantime Amy's eyes snapped open in disbelief, though she managed to remember she was supposed to be comatose and shut them before anyone noticed. She felt and hear a pair of knees press into the ground by her side; her heart was racing as she felt herself being rolled over, she fought to keep her breathing steady as she prepared for the kiss she must surely be receiving – then she shot three feet off the floor as Sonic bellowed,

"Clear!" and pressed his fingers into her sides. The pink hedgehog shrieked and pummelled at the ground, desperate to get away as she rolled up to her haunches and glared at Sonic. The blue hero gave a victory pose before blowing on his fingertips and holstering a pair of finger-guns,

"Yep, the good old 'electric shock' got the old ticker going again".

"Git" Amy declared, sticking her tongue out to conceal her embarrassment as Cream shook her head at the pair of them. Just then, a wolf-whistle broke the silence accompanied by the sound of applause; glancing up, the trio saw Tails waving encouragingly from the cockpit of the Tornado and Shadow framed in the doorway, clapping with a smile on his midnight face.

"Very nice; an Oscar is at this very moment on the way for that piece of drama; now if you've quite finished", the black hedgehog stepped back and to the side, ushering the other hedgehogs in as Tails beckoned Cream from the cockpit, "we'll be on our way".

"Right", Sonic hoisted the rabbit's bag over his shoulder as Cream took off, "well, if you're sure you've recovered enough to fly?"

"More than you know" Amy promised him, thinking about getting revenge; not aware that, as Shadow disappeared into the interior of the fox's mecha, he had a neat, if unmeant, solution to that little puzzle.

Tail's voice crackled over the internal communication systems within the Tornado as Sonic and Amy boarded, looking around in dismay as they realised that there was nowhere left for them to sit; the last seat had been buried under a mountain of satchels, bags and rucksacks,

"Sorry you two", the fox spoke over the radio, "I realised there wouldn't be enough seats, so I had to do the next best thing. Look to your left, near the cockpit", a couple of straps hung down from the roof, "standing room only I'm afraid".

"It's cool Tails" Amy assured him; as she took hold of the leather straps Vector decided it was time to prove that chivalry wasn't dead,

"Charmy, be a gentleman and offer the lady your seat". Just for once, Charmy didn't have to think about something funny to say; it appeared magically in his head and before he realised it he had shot back,

"Why don't you stand up and offer them both a seat?"

Espio disintegrated; it was just so off the cuff, said at such a perfect tone and induced an expression of such horror and disbelief from his crocodile friend that his ninjitsu training was swept aside and he howled with laugher. He was swiftly joined by Amy and Shadow – both hedgehogs saw Vector's peach of a look and collapsed helplessly. As Charmy grinned and reached down for his buckle, the chameleon forestalled him, unclipping his own belt and standing up,

"No Charmy", he managed to gasp, "stay put, that was clahahass! Ames, take it". He stumbled forwards, still shaking with laughter as the pink hedgehog look disbelievingly at Vector. Smarting from the verbal pummelling, the croc growled,

"Old team thing; Charm makes Esp laugh, Esp has to help the little buzzer out".

"Well, much as I appreciate it", Amy kept her face straight as a plan materialised in her mind, brought about by Charmy's quip, "Sonic, have a seat". She gestured towards the vacated spot as most of the others goggled at her, least of all Sonic himself,

"But Ames, no, it's for the lady…"

"I'm into equality on all things", the pink hedgehog explained before putting some steel into her gaze, "now go sit down". _Fair enough, that was nice of her_; Sonic shrugged, nodded at her politely and turned away; as soon as he had Amy put her finger to her lip and tip-toed up behind her hero. Just as Sonic turned to sit down she pounced; before even Sonic's brain, fantastically attuned to working at high speeds, could react Amy was sat squarely on his lap, smiling up at his as he felt blood rise up in his cheeks.

"There we go, a seat for both of us". Speaking through gritted teeth, aware of Shadow's quickly hidden grin and Espio's roll of the eyes, the blue hedgehog tried to argue the case,

"Amy, no, I'm not sitting like this all the way to Angel Island".

"Why not?" Amy's memory triggered from not too long ago and she beamed devilishly, "you've done it before, with Shadow if I remember rightly". Sonic opened his mouth, closed it, thought for a second then opened it again before finally conceding, shifting to try and make the best of a bad situation. _It's not really that bad is it? – yeah, she's all over me and… - shut up, you're not fooling me this time, it's a bit embarrassing but it's worth it to get this close and have a reason for it – it's still embarrassing – live with it bucko_; Sonic played down his internal struggle, realising with a thrill of both panic and reluctant acceptance that, much as might be loath to admit it, the other side was starting to have more and more of a point. He did like being close to Amy, much more than he had been before when all she'd been after was a bone-rending hug; now she was a lot calmer and more mature, he felt a strange warm glow, much like he had at Christmas, whenever he was near her and not goofing up. With a sigh, he gave up the battle as lost,

"All right, you win", _still can't let her get away clean_; Sonic edged on a wicked grin as he moved his hands surreptitiously, "after all, such a close call with death, you never know when you might need a second shock".

"Don't you dare!" She tucked her arms in hard to her sides before Sonic chuckled into her ear, noticing she still had the piercing he had given her at Christmas in place,

"Psyche". Amy scowled and jabbed an elbow backwards softly, rewarded with a small grunt as Sonic took his cue for silence. As the Tornado began to vibrate and taxi down for a take off, she shifted, reaching down into her dress pocket, pulling out a small paperback novel and smiling over her shoulder,

"Want to read with me?" Glimpsing the title and ensuring himself that it wasn't a slushy romance novel, the blue wonder raised his eyebrows and settled his chin on her shoulder, reading over it as the Tornado soared aloft towards Angel Island.

A/N: And next chapter, these eight meet the Brotherhood nine as well as Knuckles and Rouge. I don't think nutty quite describes it.


	19. Chapter 18 Chaos, Panic and Athair

Chapter 18 – Chaos, Panic, Disorder and Athair.

A/N: Right, this is where things start getting really manic. Hope you enjoy it, and just to reassure some reviewers:

Sonicron – Big, yes, I have plans for him, but not right now; he's not a big player in this fic, but in the continuation from this fic, you'll start to hear more about him and, more importantly, why he's such a good artist and fisherman.

Proplayer – Cinnamon's mentioned in Angel of Darkness and Ice; she's a small cat girl, friends with Shadow and owns a large Akita dog called Akki. It's better explained in AODAI, but I reckon for this story that's all you need to know about her.

R. Wolfsbane – Right, okay; oh look, here are the nice men in sparkly white coats – remember that nice warm jacket they gave you last time, and the soft little white room as well? Just stay cool and this should be relatively painless… (author legs it as tranq gun goes off).

Spectre brought his hand back and knocked again; though by and large he left his fourth-son alone as much as possible, this time he had no choice but to risk dementia by speaking to him in his own doorway. Things needed to be made plain enough for Athair to understand and alone of all the guardians Spectre was the only one who could ensure he'd get the message. The black echidna scowled and knocked again, realising it was unlike the hyper echidna to leave anyone on the doorstep unless he was brewing something really big; the eldest guardian shivered as he recalled the last time no-one had seen Athair for three days. _Digging a tunnel to the surface, then causing absolute mayhem in the Silver Sea_; Spectre shuddered as he recalled just how much of a meal the press had made of it; _not everyday they see a guardian skinny-dipping in broad daylight_; he threw himself back into the present and cut off the excruciating memories by knocking a fourth time, raising his voice this time,

"Athair, I know you're in there; I just want to say something". Straining his ears, the elder was relieved to hear his manic fourth-son reply back,

"Sorry fourth-father, just coming". There was a click as the handle turned, Spectre shuffled back, looked up at his flying descendent and was promptly struck blind. Reeling from the explosion of colour in front of him, Spectre covered his traumatised retina cells with one paw and shouted,

"Athair, what are you wearing?"

"Just something I made when I had a little time on my hands", he looked down at his creation, admiring the way the dyes he'd used had run together and stained the boring white material of the shirt into a joyous riot of colour; he scratched his head as his fourth-father appeared not to be able to look at him without his eyes going crossed and watering, "is something wrong – the colours aren't clashing are they?"

"No fourth-son", Spectre was able to answer in perfect truth, "they're waging all-out war; go and take it off then come back". Athair flew back a little way before looking at the black echidna beseechingly,

"But fourth-father…"

"Now!" _There's no way I can compromise on that_; Spectre shuddered as he imagined what might happen if Athair wore that horror whilst flying – visions of much queasiness and motion sickness flitted in front of him before he shut his mind off. There was a huff, a muffled sound of clothing being removed and then Athair tapped him on the shoulder,

"All done"; _thank the Master_; Spectre turned around to see his fourth-son now dressed in his normal attire of bangles in his hair and spines. Straightening himself, Spectre addressed his eccentric relative.

"Good, now Athair, you know we're having guests today…" The flying echidna gave a cheer and danced a mid-air jig in celebration, whooping out loud as Spectre tried hard not to blast his fourth-son with his gifts,

"I know, isn't it wonderful fourth-father; I have to look my best", Athair made to head back into his room, calling over his shoulder, "help me pick out what to we…". He never finished that sentence; Spectre's fraying temper ran through and he gripped onto his fourth-son telekinetically, dragging Athair backwards by a couple of his bound spines. As he felt himself come to a stop, the flying echidna inverted his body, allowing him to see Spectre upside-down without putting too much pressure on his captive dreads.

"Some other time maybe?" Spectre smiled deviously as he brought his face very close to Athair's, his voice grating harshly,

"Yes, about these guests; I want you to act like you did yesterday – do not, I repeat do not, embarrass the Brotherhood by acting like you normally do or else". Athair sighed as he recognised this was Spectre immoveable; he didn't have a choice in the matter and, knowing his fourth-father, he could almost guarantee the 'or else' would be much less than pleasant. Still inverted, he crossed his arms and gave a pained smile,

"I'll try fourth-father…"

"No, you'll succeed", Spectre told him; Athair's answering look bordered on mutinous, so the elder echidna decided it was time to bring out the big guns, "or I'll have Locke break out the lead-lined straight-jacket and you won't fly for a month".

"No fourth-father", Athair fell to the floor in shock of the threat and scrabbled over to Spectre, hugging him around the thighs as he bawled, "I'llbegoodI'llbegoodI'llbegood!" Spectre reached down and patted him on the head and, feeling a little twinge of pity after that monumental threat, decided to offer a carrot as well as a stick,

"I know you won't let me down fourth-son; behave well and I'll, er, I'll let you cook a feast when the guests have to go". Athair's fear vanished as Spectre had known it would and he took off again – it was a little unfortunate perhaps that he neglected to let go of Spectre's legs before he did so. There was a resounding clang as the black echidna's helmet impacted on the top of Athair's doorframe.

"Oops, sorry; umm, fourth-father, remember, your blood pressure". A dangerous growl was Spectre's only response.

Minutes later, Sabre threw himself to the side as Athair hurtled down the corridor with Spectre in hot pursuit, screaming for his fourth-son to stand and face him like a man. _And he wanted Athair to behave civilised_; Sabre sighed and polished his monocle; _still, at least if Spectre catches him Athair can't do too much damage in the hospital wing._

XXX

A short while later, Rouge jumped backwards in time to dodge Knuckles' latest punch and threw her hands up before the echidna could press, pointing at the sky and shouting,

"They're here; I can hear the Tornado". Knuckles swept his eyes upwards and, sure enough, there was the familiar silhouette of his fox friend's plane coming in, casting a long shadow from the pale, watery sunlight of the mild winter day. The guardian smiled; soon he'd be able to recite the speech he had prepared in his head and give the rest of his friends the shock of their lives. Standing to the side as it made its final approach run, Knuckles leant over and whispered to Rouge,

"Let me handle this one; I've got a good idea what I want to say".

"Go for it; they're your family after all". Whatever Knuckles' reply was, it was drowned out as the plane landed with the usual thump and disturbance of twigs from leafless tree branches. The guardian stood immobile as the forwards momentum of the small plane was killed off and the landing ramp deployed; to his slight surprise, the first person out, rather than Sonic, was one of the Chaotix; he was almost sure the name was Espio but he couldn't have sworn on it as the rest of the party joined the proceedings, Tails and Cream descending from the cockpit as Shadow made up the last of the numbers on the ground. Walking around stiffly, Sonic massaged some life back into his thighs as he addressed the guardian,

"Hey Knucks; well the gang's all here, where's the party at? And are you wearing a jacket?"

"Yes I am; it's called fashion Sonic, you should check a dictionary some time"; the blue hedgehog grimaced at his saying from Christmas catching him out as Knuckles sniggered at the blue hedgehog's awkward gait, "besides, what happened to you; seatbelt too tight?"

"Not quite" the blue blur grunted, not wanting to get too deep into the intricacies of why his thighs were burning up; of course, Shadow saw this gilt-edge chance and seized it with both hands,

"Due to a lack of seats, some of us were forced to double up and, well, Sonikku drew the short straw".

"I'll bet he enjoyed that" Knuckles managed to say with a straight face as Amy blushed with a grin and Sonic speared daggers from his eyes into Shadow, face beginning to burn again even if, he admitted, the journey hadn't been too bad and the book they'd been jointly reading had held his interest admirably. However, the echidna realised the sooner this was said the better, so without further ado, he clapped his hands and addressed them all again,

"Right, well, I regret to inform you that you've been led here under slightly false pretences", in unison, eight heads snapped up to look at the guardian squarely.

_The moon_; _that was present, but was it a smile then, or a dagger to cut me with_? The being felt part of the mist evaporate as the light of the crescent moon shone through. _The host seems to know it; I must research her memories when the opportunity arises_.

"What you talking about furry – I'm not keen on this talk of false pretences" Vector rumbled, summing up what the others were feeling if not outwardly expressing. The echidna held up his hands, a smile starting to creep across his face as he thought about their reactions were going to plummet in a second.

"Don't sweat it; no-one's in trouble, but there's something we all need to do. Take a seat, believe me you'll need one, and I'll explain"; with several swapped glances and low mutterings, the group sank to the floor as Knuckles set about explaining,

"Right, well things have changed on the island since any of you were here last. It started nearly a week ago; the Master started pulsing and suddenly the island started expanding…"

"Expanding?" Tails cut in, looking at the guardian as though he'd just sprouted wings, "as in, there's more of it than before?"

"Give the foxboy a prize", Knuckles declared, gently mocking but confirming the kit's suspicions with a nod, "but he's right; Angel Island just got a lot bigger".

"How?" asked one or more of the throng; raising his voice and waving them down, Knuckles sought to answer their questions,

"No I'm not joking, I don't know how or why it happened but listen up", gradually, the others fell silent and he spoke again; that hadn't been as bad as he'd expected, but this was where it really all kicked off,

"Right, well as it's my job, myself and Rouge decided to go exploring this new land, and what we found was, a little unexpected". A laugh sounded out from behind the echidna; Rouge pointed at her partner and spoke up,

"A little; by that he means I told him and he nearly passed out on me", there were a few sniggers at this, but mostly there was a pregnant, expecting silence – the guardians had the rest of the Mobians present on the hook and they were all listening intently as the bat dropped the bomb for a second time, "there's now a city on Angel Island; a city populated by echidnas".

Silence.

Still silence.

Then a tiny declaration,

"You're joking?"

"No we're not" Knuckles assured everyone present, deflecting their awed, shocked looks as he spoke again, "somehow, my people have reappeared here, so all those I'll-make-the-echidnas-extinct threats won't work any more" he smiled, looking at Amy especially as the pink hedgehog opened and closed her mouth like a fish, utterly uncomprehending of this news. _Of all the things I expected up here_; it was Espio's voice that brought most of the others back to Earth as the chameleon recovered from the impact fastest.

"So, so this place now has a population greater than one?"

"Two", Rouge corrected him before nodding in agreement, "and yes, by some method we haven't yet found out, the long lost echidna civilisation somehow got itself unlost. The city's called Echidnopolis, and from what we could tell, the echidnas in it don't yet know the rest of the world exists". Despite the seriousness and shock of the situation, Sonic couldn't help but joke; rolling his eyes and sighing dramatically, the blue hedgehog groaned aloud,

"Oh great, an entire civilisation of blade-fisted hillbillies; yep, sounds like Knucks'll fit right in". Strangely, the normally hot-tempered guardian kept his cool and replied to the witticism with a smirk,

"Actually spiky, only about one in five male echidnas have spurs, and I'd start treating me nicely from now on".

"And why would I do that – you'll call for back-up?"

"Dead right for once Sonic", the blue hedgehog glanced up as Knuckles silently thanked him for the opening to squeeze this in relatively painlessly, "as well as the city, something else came back, something more, personal". Every Mobian regarded their friend, but it was Cream, so used to these expressions and emotions involved, who understood; without a second thought, her hands covered her mouth and she squeaked,

"You, Mr Knuckles…"

"You're right floppy", his eyes were wet as the truth shone through, though there was no mistaking the joy and contentment in his tone, "this is why I sent the call out; I, I found my family, and they want to meet you all".

Knuckles had been prepared for a violent reaction, but even he couldn't have predicted the sheer scale of chaos that ensured from his announcement. Before he was fully aware anyone had moved, a beige blur slammed into him as Cream, yelling in joy, shot forwards and wrapped her arms as far around him as she could manage. He might have been able to survive and regain his balance had a second, heavier impact not crashed into him as Tails was overcome. The two kids bowled him over as a crescendo of cheers and riotous jubilation erupted from the throats of his friends; everyone with the exception of the Chaotix, who didn't know the echidna well enough to get really involved, launched themselves into party mood. Knuckles was assailed from all sides by back-slapping, several hugs from the girls and handshakes all around from his male friends. Amid the confusion, Tails managed to disentangle himself and roar at the top of his lungs,

"Right, everyone in the Tornado now!"

"Hold it!" Knuckles managed to roar equally loudly; this was the one chance he had to both explain things more fully and, much as it may pain him to do so, prevent one of his friends making a possibly terminal faux pas in the future, "just, cool it a sec; I'm not done yet". His friends sat back down, eyes shining and eager for more good news; for a second Knuckles faltered; could he really dash that hope? He quickly checked behind him, but this time Rouge couldn't help; she knew that this was his own choice and only he could make it.

"Well Knucks, what else you gotta say; don't keep us all in the dark". Sonic was nearly buzzing with excitement, missing the darkening of his friend's eyes as Knuckles spoke again,

"Listen, it's not all good news", a large proportion of the excitement drained away not from the words, but more the tone in which they were spoken; the echidna was quiet and his voice was full of dignified suffering as he sought to conquer his recently acquired personal demons, "my mum and dad, well, they, ah, they're divorced now; please, don't ask why, I'll, tell you all, some other time, just not now".

There was a second silence, but this time it was not pleasant; no-one wanted to take this news in. Knuckles lowered his head as the searing fire of having an incomplete family burned into him again. He was gradually aware of movement, a single Mobian stood rose from the silent mass,

"Knucks man", Sonic stepped forwards softly and put his hand on the echidnas shoulder, green eyes mournful as he silently railed at the injustice; Knuckles had been denied a family his whole life and just when he finds it again, though no fault of his own it's broken and bitter; _where's the justice in that_? Sealing away his internal resentment of the gross unfairness, acting strong for his friend, the hedgehog pressed into the fur reassuringly as he spoke the only words he could find, aware of how pitifully insignificant they sounded even to him.

"I'm sorry".

The guardian chuckled ruefully, aware of the respectful silence that had descended and the sorrowful expressions on the formerly celebratory faces of his friends; gently placing his massive paw atop the hedgehogs, Knuckles heaved a sigh and spoke again,

"Thanks Sonic, that means a lot", the hedgehog nodded, smiled slightly and then retook his place on the ground as Knuckles decided to leave that morsel to the side for now, "but, guys, listen up; this is important – one side of my family is made up entirely of guardians, and they're the reason for me being like I am", noticing the renewed looks of interest, Knuckles pressed on, "the guardians live by a code, and part of that code is that the youngest must fend for themselves. Basically, when we're five or so, the future guardian is abandoned – it sounds barbaric", Knuckles held up a paw, buying himself enough time to finish what he'd started, "but I can understand it; by being alone here so young, we grow up on the island and become almost part of it – it's that growing and adapting to the island and the Master that lets us become guardians".

"But, in that case", Vector scratched the side of his head, looking at the guardian askew, "how'd you get here in the first place; I'm assuming the other guardians, if there are any, weren't here all the time, so where were they in all this?" Knuckles bit his lip as he considered the crocodile's question, trying to think of the best way to answer something he wasn't truly sure of himself. He tried to give the best answer he could,

"Well, for a start the other guardians live in the part of Angel Island that was lost, if you like, but occasionally they can cross over from that part to the rest of it; I never asked how though". That answer pricked Tails' intelligence and with a gasp something huge crystallised in his mind; he shot to his feet and jabbed a finger at Knuckles,

"You never asked; there are other guardians out there?"

"You bet there are"; _thanks Tails_; the echidna smiled as he realised that question would make the transition from his past to his family's request almost seamless, "and they're all part of my family; they're the ones who want to see you all".

"Why", Shadow pursed his lips as he thought about why the guardians would be interested in them all, "we haven't done anything wrong have we?"

"No, not at all", Knuckles was quick to reassure them all, smiling as he cocked his head, "they just want to make sure of something".

"What?" The echidna laughed at the question from Amy and tapped the side of his nose,

"Not telling, see if you can guess; give you a clue though", he leant forwards as everyone put their thinking caps on, "it's the one thing that you've all done". Charmy leapt to a guess and excitement bubbled in his voice; _just for once I beat Esp and Vec to it_.

"I know", everyone turned to see the bee flutter into the air, grinning smugly, "the Metal Overlord; we all fought that together right?"

"Okay, it's one of two things you've all done"; Knuckles rephrased his question after confirming that the youngest member of team Chaotix was actually right in that, "not quite though Charmy". The bee sank back to the floor, slightly mollified that he had got at least somewhere but now left without a scooby of an idea. The silence dragged on into seconds; all the Mobians were thinking furiously but coming up with nothing save frustration; Knuckles was about to put them out of their misery but Rouge beat him to it.

"It's the Master Emerald".

_Master Emerald! I have heard that name before – the green! The green I was in opposition to; the natural enemy of the red! The host knows the Master Emerald – it is imperative I access this new information as soon as control is mine again_; from its concealed position, the being felt more knowledge accumulate and cursed itself for not thinking to research the host memory before now; _the only way to know the answer is to draw knowledge from every source – had I forgotten so much as to lose my scientific…wait, I was a scientist, yes I was. As was the other, he of the green; why, why did we fight? What caused it? There was a reason, there must have been, but I do not know!_

"You've all seen the Master", the bat continued, moving to stand next to Knuckles as she elaborated, "apparently, when the rest of the island came back some kind of ancient defence mechanism kicked in – from what the other guardians said it'll stop people approaching the shrine, but here's the catch; you eight have already seen the green, so you're sort of immune to it".

"And the other guardians want to check you're all safe to know about it", the echidna finished for her before quickly adding, "don't worry I put in a good word for you, but you know how guardians are".

"Believe me", Amy put in innocently, smiling up as she pointed, "we know exactly how guardians are; well then", she stood up and dusted off her dress, "let's get going; I want to meet these new echidnas". Rouge raised a hand and smiled a little; _tempting though it is to throw them all in at the deep end, I don't think it's safe to lat them meet that lot unprepared_.

"Hold it Ames, there's still a lot you need to know".

"Such as?" Espio, perhaps better than any of the rest, knew the importance of going into any situation as well informed as possible so prompted, folding his arms as he prepared for the information,

"Well", the bat shared a grin with Knuckles as he rolled his eyes and waved her on; she had always been better able to get the point across than he had, especially in a funny manner "for a start…"

XXX

Locke glanced up, shaking the can of spray paint in his right hand as he admired his handiwork; a large red X now adorned the front of the door to his main laboratory. Since his son and Rouge had left, one of grandfather Spectre's first decrees, after he'd beaten the dent out of his helmet and banished Athair to his room until the guest arrived, had been to border off any of the more dangerous rooms of Haven. Each of the guardians knew that, due to complex layout of Haven and the fact they were going to be outnumbered by the guests, it was a question of when rather than if someone got lost. Therefore, to prevent any accidents apart for Athair, each member of the Brotherhood had been equipped with red spray paint and a mandate to border off any rooms they wanted to remain behind closed doors. Locke shrugged as he realised he was now done; _better than Sojourner's suggestion of locking them in their rooms_. Holstering his spray, the youngest guardian headed back to the main meeting chamber; he would wait there with the others until the guests arrived. All save Spectre – as tradition dictated, he'd greet all the guests as Knuckles brought them down in the lift.

XXX

Athair hovered in his room, still upset that grandfather Spectre had banished him in here, but more concerned for something else. The flying echidna wracked his brain, trying to recall what it was; he'd done something that Spectre in his current mood really wouldn't approve of, but couldn't remember what it was exactly.

XXX

Not far away and closing, Knuckles was giving directions to Tails in the jeep mode of the Tornado; in the back were Vector, Charmy and Rouge while Sonic and Amy were running to the left of the jeep and Shadow carrying Cream were on the right. However, the nomination for the oddest riding position of all had to go to Espio; as they'd all mounted up to go the chameleon had thrown his gloves to Vector and clambered on top of the Tornado, much to the owner's consternation,

"Umm, Espio, what are you doing?" A golden-horned face poked over the top of the jeep and called back,

"Getting ready to go; don't worry, I've done this before".

"He's right", Vector admitted to disbelieving looks as Charmy nodded, "when we get too crowded with gear, slick-skin goes and hangs on the roof; he can support his body-weight on two toes if he needs to".

"And worst come to worst he can catch the bumper with his tongue and reel in" Charmy put in, causing a few chuckles as the rides had been sorted. As the guardian shot off the last couple of twists the fox needed to make, he felt a tap on the shoulder; turning in his seat, he saw Charmy look at him with a sketch pad held ready,

"Sorry, umm, was it Thunderhawk who was the oldest or Spectre?"

"Spectre's eldest, Thunderhawk's his son", Knuckles said; noting the bee's studious expression, the echidna chortled and added, "just think, in a couple of minutes you'll be talking to Mobians older than all of us combined".

"I know", Vector chipped in, tapping the side of his jaw in thought; he'd analysed everything Knuckles had said about his relations and the fact there were so many of them, as well as the powers they were said to possess and now a thought sprang up in his mind, "just gotta ask though, how are they going to see if we're sound?"

"Well, remember how I said my seventh-father could read minds?"

"What?" The Tornado swerved alarmingly as Tails looked at the echidna agog, "Knucks, not wanting to think ill and that, but I'm not about to let someone go poking about in my head".

"Why's that foxboy; something to hide?" Rouge flicked her eyes out the window to the right and Tails flushed as he realised what she was driving at, "but anyway, don't worry; Spectre's read my mind before and nothing happened to me". _Result_; the fox leaned back in his seat whilst grinning,

"Nothing in there worth reading I'll bet". Vector winced and licked his finger, pressing it forwards with a hiss at the same time Rouge mouthed 'see you later foxboy' to the smarmy mechanic.

XXX

The Brotherhood convened at the main chamber at Spectre's telepathic command; the black-furred ancient looked over each of his descendents as he spoke, his red eyes his only visible feature as the black robes he wore concealed his outline.

"They will be here shortly; I'm going to the entrance to meet them. You lot", he favoured them each with a prolonged gaze, "wait here for us all, and fourth-son", Athair looked up from where he appeared to have been meditating in mid-air, "remember what I said earlier?" Smiling earnestly, the brown echidna nodded his head until the beads in his dreads rattled,

"Yes grandfather".

"Good – don't forget it". With that, Spectre left the main chamber and headed for the entrance to Haven, preparing his lines in his head; it had been a long time since the Brotherhood had entertained guests and it didn't pay to be rusty in speeches.

"How long do you reckon he'll be gone for?"

"Not sure", Thunderhawk shrugged as he leant his chair back and kicked his feet onto the table, earning disapproving looks from Locke and Sabre, "should be a while though".

"True, and you grandson", Sojourner spoke as Athair's face creased into an expression of annoyance, "what's on your mind – not like you to be so quiet, sad though it is to say". Glancing up, the floating echidna answered his grandfather with, most of those present noticed with concern, a worried look.

"I'm not sure grandfather, but I have a funny feeling that I've forgotten something". _That's not good_; Thunderhawk took charge as the eldest present; _last time Athair forgot something it was while he was making beef flambé – well he got the flambé bit right, as did most of the kitchen_.

"Third-son; what might it have been?"

"I'm not sure", Athair gave a smile as he tapped the side of his head, "it'll come to me I'm sure". _And that reassures us how?_; as the rest of the Brotherhood swapped concerned glances Athair hummed a quiet tune, waiting patiently for his mind to dig up what it had buried like an obedient dog.

XXX

"Well guys, this is it", Knuckles had Tails pull the Tornado to a halt within easy walking distance from Haven and then stepped out, shivering for a second as he realised the wind had picked up. A sneeze for his right and slightly above him reminded him of something and he tapped the top of the Tornado.

"Hop off, we're here".

"Good", with a burst of colour, the rooftop passenger made himself visible and then slid down the roof of the Tornado, shaking all the while due to the naturally cold temperature and wind chill as well,

"Just as well, my tail feels like it's going to drop off". Realising that the reptile would most certainly be feeling the cold more than he was, Knuckles shucked off his jacket and offered it,

"Here, put this on if…" Espio's eyes widened alarmingly and he drew himself away, nodding politely as he shook his head,

"No, my thanks but no; part of my training, I must learn to cope with the cold" he offered as explanation; the echidna shrugged and replaced his clothing before, seeing how everyone was now out of the Tornado, he called out and pointed to the cave in the side of hill,

"Right, everyone up there, into the cave; I know it doesn't look like much, but believe me it's got a spacious interior".

"Right", Sonic looked up dubiously before smiling at the guardian and his partner, "and there was me thinking you two were just house shopping". _Another one to add to the hit list_; Rouge glowered at the blue hedgehog as the others stifled giggles; fortunately, a combination of two super-speed hedgehogs made getting there easy.

XXX

The sudden snap of a pair of fingers made taut nerves ping; every eye fell to Athair as he remembered as he knew he eventually would,

"Aha, that was it – knew it was in there somewhere".

"What was father?" Sabre pressed, keeping his fingers crossed that his father hadn't done anything too drastically wrong,

"The thing I'd forgotten – I just remembered it". Thunderhawk knew that, unfortunately, violence wouldn't solve this problem so forced himself to stay calm and ask again,

"And what was it you'd remembered third-son?" Athair brightened and spoke again,

"I forgot to tell grandfather Spectre to stay at the end of the corridor when the lift came…hey, where are you going?" With a rush of herd panic, the rest of the Brotherhood took off with a flurry of oaths and recriminations,

"What did I do to deserve such a grandson?"

"No idea, but when you find out let Spectre know; he's asked that for years". Sabre broke up the argument as he put on an extra burst of speed,

"If we don't hurry the only thing grandfather Spectre's going to be asking for is Athair's head on a plate".

"You say that like it's a bad thing". Locke kept level with his father as he grinned painfully,

"Unless you've forgotten, Spectre on the warpath is a danger for us all. He's not particular about who he gets even with when he wants heads to roll".

"Good point"; Thunderhawk recalled what had happened when someone had tripped one of the alarm switches of Haven accidentally and shuddered at the punishments his father had inflicted in his rage; _there are some things an echidna should just not be forced to do with his toothbrush_.

XXX

Spectre waited patiently at the base of the elevator shaft; one of the benefits of aging was that he now fully appreciated the plus points of the long term view. The black echidna listened as he heard the tell-tale rattle and hum of the elevator, the one way in and out of his ancestral home, unless you happened to be Sojourner. In a melancholy moment, Spectre sighed – what was he going to do with his grandson? He'd asked that question when he'd first seen into the younger echidna's mind at Hawking's request and seen only bitterness, spite and profound yet unexpressed grief.

Sojourner had never mourned, not once had he shed tears for his daughter's passing – either because he had been unable to at the time, or because he thought it unseemly for a guardian to cry. _He wouldn't be the first to fall into that trap_; Spectre shook himself as the lift seemed to rumble to a halt – now was not the time to dwell on such things; he had to safeguard the Master while his sons both dealt with the newcomers to Haven and tried to solve the mystery their ancestors had left them; _time is running out, I can feel it – something big is coming and we don't have long left._ Before that train of thought could run any further, the lift arrived and the doors slid open. Taking a step forwards, the black echidna opened his mouth, recognising Knuckles as his seventh-son took a step forwards and extended an arm; unfortunately, the trip-wire used was so fine the guardian never even felt it break against his fur.

XXX

_We don't have long left_; Sabre forced himself to go faster; of all the Brotherhood he was marginally the fastest and now more than ever he had a need for speed. He wasn't sure what his father had rigged up but, knowing the situation and how excitable Athair was, he could almost guarantee it was going to be big. As he rounded the last corner, his heart froze as there was an audible fanfare and several smaller bangs and pops; he skidded to a halt, turning around to face the others, bracing himself for the explosion as four appalled gazes met,

"We're too late!"

XXX

It was certainly impressive; the flying echidna had been up half the night making sure the guests would get a good impression of the home the guardians jointly shared. As the tripwire snapped, the entire corridor was suddenly filled with pops and colour as hidden party poppers expended their lethal payload and silly string was sprayed from concealed canisters in the roof, criss-crossing in bright displays of light. A computerised fanfare, borrowed from Locke's extensive music files, blared out of a pair of speakers and a large, hand-painted banner unfurled itself and draped down the far wall at the corridor's end, loudly proclaiming the message 'WELCOME TO HAVEN!' A display like that was magical enough to appeal to any sort of person; there was no-one there who could have denied that the seemingly mad echidna's antics had made a positive impression on them.

Unless, of course, it was the person who happened to be stood right in the middle when the foam had started flying.

XXX

The four guardians looked at each other, then at the entrance to the corridor where the noise was coming from. There was no communication, there didn't need to be any; as one, the entire Brotherhood turned tail and ran like living hell back to the main chamber – long experience had taught them all that there were times to try and reason with Spectre and there were times when it was safer to just keep your trap shut, run like the dickens and lock your door at night.

XXX

_I have to admit_; Spectre's mind replayed the last few seconds in exquisite detail, slowing actions down enough to see the precise location of each popper as it went off; _that was some effort he/they put into this_. However, though this calm, rational line of thought existed in Spectre's head, it was very much in the minority; most of the black echidna's mind was ablaze with pictures of blame, plotting and violent, gory revenge. He blinked his eyes open and raised an arm to wipe away the goo that was blocking his vision; in the future he was never sure if that was a good idea or not. For two things, it firstly gave him an idea of how bad he now looked; all his midnight robes were streaked with dangling ribbons of paper and there was some form of hardened plastic stuck to his helmet. However, the worst was in front of him; the blood rushed to his face as he realised that he was in the presence of not only Rouge and his seventh-son, but all the other eight guests as well.

Knuckles had leapt backwards at the first sign of trouble, piling into Vector as everyone had wanted out of the cramped conditions of the lift. He back-peddled furiously to fight against the press, not wanting to be out in that blizzard of confetti as it snowed past it the lift entrance. Aside from the odd cheep of bewilderment, there was no comment, no noise as eventually the dust, as well as streamers and foam, settled; Knuckles took a look and immediately turned away, not wanting to embarrass the strange, alien figure standing motionless in front of them all by laughing out loud. That, however, was a lost fight right from the outset,

"Umm, guys", Spectre looked up as his seventh-son's voice wavered, a grin breaking through the mask he had clamped down on his expressions, "I'd, er, lihike to meet my seventh-father, this is Spec, Spectahahaha".

That was it; everyone in the lift had caught a glimpse of the now multi-coloured echidna and Knuckles' laugher had been the drop that broke the floodgates. All eight Mobians, even Espio, collapsed completely, leaning against walls or each other as Knuckles reeled forwards, tears in his eyes as he tried to address the motionless form of his glowering seventh-father,

"Grandfahahther, I", Knuckles was overcome again and collapsed against his ancient relative, body heaving with hysterics; Spectre's eyes flared, the only outwards expression of his slowly building anger, "I'm sorreheehehehe!" The youngest echidna tailed off, falling to his knees as laughter howled out of him unstoppably; every time he raised his gaze to look at Spectre he went off again. Fighting down his rage, the eldest guardian bowed his head slightly, brushed off a few extra streamers dislodged by the action and spoke the ancient lines of greeting, studiously ignoring the blatant gales of laughter and silently swearing violent, bloody vengeance on all his descendents in Haven.

"Welcome guests of the guardians; rest awhile, for you have reached a safe Haven".

XXX

"Remember, no matter what happened, look shocked and appalled"; Thunderhawk whispered to his descendents as the sounds of laughter and footsteps reached their nervous ears from down the corridor. As tradition expected, all five guardians rose from their chairs in some manner at the first sight of movement from the corridor; as soon as the first figure emerged, however, it was immediately obvious that the 'looking shocked and appalled' bit was all to easy. All the guardians goggled unreservedly as Spectre, still trailing remnants of silly string trails from his robes and trying to remove party popper papers from his helmet and shoulders, strode purposely towards them. All the guardians, that is, bar one,

"Oh you lot", Thunderhawk, Sojourner, Sabre and Locke felt icy fingers clutch at their spines as Athair, looking supremely unconcerned at the whole spectacle, folded his arms and shook his head wistfully, "forgot to give Grandfather Spectre the message". Before any of the trembling Brotherhood could protest or plead, its eldest member had rounded the table and smiled forbiddingly at the rest of them,

"Really; I'll be most interested to hear about this message", everyone present winced out of shared sympathy for the Brotherhood; even those who hadn't yet spoken to the black echidna could almost taste the venom dripping off his tongue as they set their bags down, "after, of course, we have all spoken to our guests". Spectre took his seat at the centre of the table, the nervousness flanking him at this stay of execution whetting his appetite for destruction as he spoke to the others once more.

"Welcome friends of Knuckles, to Haven; I understand that my seventh-son has told you something of us, the Brotherhood of Guardians".

"He, ah"; _geez, I'm not usually this nervous about meeting people_; Sonic licked his lips as the attention fell on him, "he said you needed to see us because we're, sort of, immune to some kind of Master Emerald power, and you want to see if we're all, er, okay for knowing about the jewel itself".

"Quite right; we have to assert your trustworthiness" Sojourner answered before Vector cut across him; he'd been doing some thinking in the car and wanted to be sure of something,

"Yeah, just a question; how you going to do that? Reddy said something about one of you being able to read minds". Spectre nodded solemnly, need for revenge stewing inside him and crushing his ability to smile knowingly as he nodded at the crocodile,

"That is partially true; I can't read minds exactly, but I can draw information from them and, after some thought and examination, make conclusions about the mind's innermost thoughts and desires".

_A danger – I can not allow this individual to access the host's memory_; the being recoiled from the threat of discovery even as a memory, dim and distant, spoke of others, similar powers being used both for and against in the struggle of red and green. _Some of those powers were my own; how did I use them, and to what end?_ It was stronger now, remembering more information at a higher rate than before, but in its wisdom, that made this threat all the more unwelcome. It could not be baulked so close to its goal, whatever that actually was.

"Right, so you will determine our, worthiness, if you like, from what we are thinking?" Espio put in, casually balancing one of his stars on a fingertip as Spectre nodded again,

"Yes, it is the fairest and most secure way of knowing the truth about someone's actions; no amount of lies and deceit, no matter how well believed by the perpetrator, can be held solid in the mind. Not wishing to think of you as criminals, but we must assure ourselves in our own minds that you are as trustworthy as my seventh-son has said you are".

"Does that mean you'll all read our minds, Mr Spectre?" _Praise the Master_; some of Spectre's bad mood dissipated as Cream looked up at him in innocent curiosity; _a child with manners._

"No child", the other guardians beheld the sight of their grandfather of various generations smile graciously at the rabbit; _could this mean he's mellowed out?_ "only I can delve into the complexities of a mind, and in the Brotherhood, my word is law"; _didn't think so;_ the other echidnas around the table were all smart enough to realised that Spectre letting go of a grudge was about as likely as Athair not getting hammered after that little welcome into Haven.

"I am reasonably sure the journey here has wearied and the last thing you want to get caught up with is a long, tedious round of introductions. Don't worry about getting to know us and vice versa; we'll all bump into each other and mingle around Haven. However", Spectre moved onto his next and most important topic; he wanted this out the way so he could move onto discovering what role his descendents had played in the atrocity that had ravaged his pride for all time, "before we can show you to your quarters, there are a few things that must be said". The eight invited Mobians stood more at ease, beginning to take in their new surroundings as the Spectre stood to address them,

"Primarily, it is our solemn oath that no harm will befall you while you remain within Haven; you are under our protection and we will do all in our power to guard your safety. In doing so, though, we have tried to help you stay safe; as you'll notice, some of the doors of Haven have red crosses on them – don't go in them unless you're accompanied by at least one of us. Some of the material here is dangerous to say the least"; _you'll never realise it, but I can guarantee that crossing Athair's door probably spared the sanity of at least one of you._

"That sounds fairly easy", Sonic admitted with a shrug, "don't go in the rooms with crosses, can't get much simpler than that". Rouge smiled over at the hero and smirked; he saw it just before she opened her mouth and realised he'd left himself open for this,

"Just as well, you're about as simple as they come spiky".

"Takes one to know one". Spectre waded in again before this could go too far,

"Right as that may or may not be, there's just one thing left to say", when he was certain he had everyone's attention, he continued, "don't worry about getting lost, my sons and I will be circulating to find you all. If you don't know where you are, simply stand still or go into the nearest safe room and wait; we shouldn't be long. The internal lighting works by sound; simply clap once and it should come one, clap again and the room will darken. Everyone clear with that?" It was all the seventh-father could do to avoid rubbing his hands in glee as everyone nodded; soon, oh so soon, he'd be alone with his sons once more. Keeping his voice level as all around him bar one cringed to await the storm, the black echidna spoke for the last time,

"Well then, I see no reason why you shouldn't get comfortable; Athair", the brown echidna sat up in his seat, eyes shining as Spectre gestured to the guests, "show these people to their rooms, and do not take any short-cuts fourth-son, time is of the essence here".

"Yes fourth-father", Athair sprang out his seat with a salute and ghosted over the top of the table to hover in front of Vector, "well, follow me and we'll all get going", he paused, folding his legs up into a classic lotus position as he took in the large green Mobian's dropped jaw and the way his eyes seemed to be flicking madly from his legs to the floor, "are you alright; you look like you've seen a spook".

"Err", much as he would have liked to speak, the sheer inconceivability of what he was seeing in front of him shocked Vector into speechlessness, "umm, I ah, are you, err…"

"Don't worry", Thunderhawk's voice rolled like thunder as he saw the awed looks most of the others were giving his mad third-son, "the Master alone knows how, but for Athair that's perfectly normal. You'll get used to it".

"Right", Sonic was one of the first to recover his tongue, looking at his younger brother and realising this wasn't the first time he'd seen something like this, "well, lead on then Athair".

"Right away; now come on, stay close and follow me", he hovered close to Amy and offered his hand, "come on, let's form a crocodile and…"

"Athair". The brown echidna glanced over; even covered in a funfair's worth of confetti, Spectre was still capable of portraying a very convincing aura of menace that his fourth-son quickly picked up on.

"…maybe not; come on then"; he waited while the guests, most of them still keeping one eye at least on the echidna somersaulting overhead, gathered up their belongings and began to follow him out a side tunnel.

XXX

As the last hint of flame from the black hedgehog's shoes faded, Sabre was marginally first to react,

"Now fifth-father, it…" He, and the others present, were stunned into silence as Spectre raised his hand, a green flame burning in the palm of his hand; with a barely registered effort on his part, Spectre had it spread. In a few scant seconds, the eldest guardian was consumed in a raging inferno that burned off the last of the clinging paraphernalia; Sojourner, who was closest, felt a bead of sweat roll down his forehead as a small roll of paper was shrivelled away to nothing in the heatless fire; _something tells me that got away lucky compared to us_. The last of the fire died away as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving Spectre's robes and helmet as untouched as the day they'd been sewn. Taking a deep breath an opening his eyes, the black echidna settled back in his seat and steepled his fingers,

"Start talking". As he'd expected, the response was ripped easily from five throats and consisted of pretty much a single word,

"Athair!"

XXX

As the walk dragged on, Rouge noticed that someone was hanging back a bit, moving more slowly that the rest of the group. Curious, the bat dropped her own pace a little; as Cream passed, the ex-spy found herself side by side with Shadow. Immediately, the bat had an inkling as to what was wrong; the hedgehog was walking forwards a few steps, closing his eyes for a short pause, then re-opening them and walking forwards again. As he noticed her scrutiny, the ultimate life-form gave a haggard smile, whispering to her in a quiet, strained tone.

"This place, it seems, like I almost remember; I, know this, Haven". The bat only needed a second to join the dots; he hands flew to her mouth in both joy and surprise; she'd never really noticed it before, but now that Shadow had given her the reminder it struck her with crystal clarity. Haven, with its long, semi-metallic corridors and large open areas looked a little like the ARK, Shadow's first home; the home a lucky blow from the Metal Overlord had robbed from his memories.

"Do, do you remember anything Shadow? Anything at all?" The black hedgehog put a hand to his forehead, massaging it slightly as though to encourage a rush of memories; however, as usual, all he managed was a trickle – he new it was familiar, but not why.

"No, not really; this place, it looks like somewhere I should have been, but I don't know why". Rouge risked a glance behind her and scowled in frustration; the rest were moving on and they couldn't afford to be left behind, but at the same time this could be crucial to the hedgehog who had at one time been her team mate, even if he couldn't remember it. Just as Espio headed around the corner, the compromise was delivered; Rouge snapped her fingers and turned to face Shadow, eyes wide with delight,

"I know; listen, let's get you unpacked, then we'll both go around Haven together. Spectre said it's safe, so if we wander round, maybe something will come back". Shadow's crimson eyes crackled like a gentle flame as he gripped the bat by the shoulder,

"I'll take you up on that Rouge; now come on", she bounced up and supported her weight on his shoulders as he fired up his shoes, "let's catch up now and deal with this later".

XXX

"So, to recap"; Spectre watched the nervous fidgeting his sons were undertaking, squirming as he fixed them each in turn with a basilisk gaze, "Athair tells you that I should not be in the corridor when the lift touches down, correct?"

"Yes father"; _this is going to hurt_; the fact that Spectre hadn't immediately started ripping them apart once the guests were safely out of earshot had Thunderhawk more alarmed and alert than ever; pain he could deal with, but Spectre in a twisted, vengeful mood was like something out of one of his worst nightmares. Spectre turned his baleful gaze onto his son, waiting until the lavender echidna dropped his gaze before moving on,

"And, upon hearing such news, you all run like headless chickens towards the lift, hoping to get there before it does".

"With, er", Locke faltered for a second as Spectre snapped a gaze like a thermal lance onto him, "with all due respect sixth-father, we had little time and fewer options".

"Not true", Spectre moved that volcanic gaze to the echidna sat next to him, "unless my memory fails me, which, I remind you it has yet to do, one of you has the emerald granted ability to relocate himself and, more importantly, a passenger as well". Sojourner flushed in embarrassment; what Spectre was saying made perfect sense as it would have been simplicity itself to teleport himself and his grandfather to relative safety. He tried to come with a defence though, if only to have a few more seconds before the death blow fell,

"Well, grandfather, what you say is true, but please; I was not thinking clearly and I, er"; _I, we all, must sound like such fools_; Sojourner licked his lip and finished his sentence, "I thought we'd get there in time".

"Well grandson, you didn't; none of you did", the black-furred elder's voice rose in pitch and volume; every other echidna present braced for impact, "and because of that the name of the Brotherhood, and mine in particular, is mud!"

"Or confetti" Thunderhawk muttered under his breath almost before he'd realised it; Spectre straightened and glared murderously at his offspring as the purple echidna went pale. Standing, Spectre lashed his hand out and caught Thunderhawk by a single dreadlock, shrieking,

"Is something funny son? Please, tell me the joke; Athair just humiliated the lot of us in front of one of our own and a group of complete strangers, I'm dying for the punch-line".

"You just said it", Thunderhawk gasped in pain as his words managed to loosen his father's grip enough to rip his dreadlock free, though not without lots of agony and a dent in his pride, "Athair did it, not us. Why are we getting it in the neck?"

"Because Athair's a complete loony anyway; I thought he'd try something but not on that scale", a final zapping of descendents with death glares ensued as Spectre made his point, "but you lot could have prevented it and made a complete pig's ear out of it – I thought I taught you all how to keep your heads in a crisis, but obviously not. I'll deal with all of you when the guests have gone; now get out before I take each of you over my knee".

There was a stunned silence, followed quickly by a simultaneous squeaking of chairs and a mad stampede out of the room as every echidna took Spectre at his word; laughing at a threat like that was something you only ever did once. The black echidna watched the last tail vanish around the corner before stepping off his own chair. _Yes, you four when the guests have gone_; an evil glint lit up in the echidna's red eyes and a low chuckle suffused the air; _I'll deal with Athair tonight_!

XXX

"Hey Athair"; the flying echidna flipped over in the air, now upside down as he moon-walked along the ceiling, listening intently as his third-son smiled broadly, "I take it that, um, celebration in the lift was your idea?" Bound spines rattled together as the brown echidna gave an inverted nod,

"Yes, I wanted everybody to see what a fun place Haven can be, just takes a bit of encouragement to get a laugh out of anyone". Vector, keeping one eye on Athair as he turned around and led them ever onwards, sidled up towards the guardian and whispered out the corner of his not inconsiderable jaws,

"Knucks man, I think your grandfather's cheese slid off his cracker", the red echidna glanced around blankly as Vector rolled his eyes, putting what he want to get across a slightly different way, "he's a couple of olives short of a pizza". Knuckles shrugged and spoke back as though it didn't matter,

"I know, he's completely nuts, but there is a method in at least some of his madness; he dropped me from the roof – and because he did I now know I can glide without wind, and speaking of gliding", Knuckles raised his voice and remembered the treat he had ready for his grandfather, "Tails, Cream, show Athair what you can do". Everyone stopped as the fox and rabbit glanced suspiciously at Knuckles; the red echidna grinned and raised a hand slowly as they finally cottoned on. Tails twisted and ears flapped, two other Mobians lifted into the air and, a second later, a yell of happiness echoed throughout the corridor.

_I've been there before – rather them than me_; Knuckles smirked as he beheld the spectacle overhead; Athiar had Tails constricted by one arm and Cream by the other, and was now twirling around jubilantly, nearly crying in joy,

"Yippee, more people who can fly…"

"Sonic", Tails managed to twist his face so he wasn't being smothered by Athair's chest and caught a flash of blue in his disorientated vision, "help!"

"Get us down; stop the ride!" Cream agreed as she started to feel a little green around the gills – flight was fine, but these kind of gymnastics were doing a number on her stomach. Sadly their pleas went unheeded as Sonic was currently doubled over in laughter at the ludicrous sight and Athair was far too wrapped up in his own world to react to any kind of command at all.

"…this is going to be so much fun; I'll have to tell grandfather Spectre…" tempting though it was to let Athair have his fun, Knuckles was forced to admit that they needed to get a move on; raising his voice, the guardian shouted and clapped his hands above the celebratory din,

"Athair", Knuckles kept his face serious even as the sight of Tails and Cream dangling from his third-father's arms, each of them looking queasy and ill, "put them down, gently", he added, remembering in the nick of time what had happened last time he'd said that and that neither of the smaller Mobians were as robust as he was.

"Fair enough third-son; grandfather Spectre did say he wanted us to hurry". Athair descended and released his two captives, both tottered forwards as they tried to regain their bearings and Athair floated off down the tunnel as though nothing had happened. As the two began berating the others for their lack of support, Espio smiled dangerously and leant down to Charmy, whispering mischievously,

"Now buzz-boy, what's it worth I don't tell our guide that you can fly as well?" _If looks could kill_; the chameleon kept his face inquisitive as the bee glared at him and flexed his stinger,

"It's worth me not getting a pair of colour-changing boots out of your miserable hide, how's that for you?" Espio jumped ahead of the others and as though by magic a couple of blunted stars appeared in his fingers,

"Sounds like a challenge".

"Maybe it is, but you forget I've got the advantage", Charmy smiled smugly as he used this advantage, "I can fly". For a split-second, he wondered why Espio was looking so happy before a brown blur sped towards him from the corner of his eye,

"Oh wow, another one"; in the split-second before impact, he heard a single word from his team mate,

"Sucker!"

A short while later, the brown echidna executed an aerial bow and flourish,

"Here we are; pick a room, any room; take your time unpacking and then take a gander around the place. Oh, one thing though", as everyone headed for a room, the third-father pointed out two among their number with a broad smile, "third-son; your room's the last one along – it's got the double bed like you asked for". Knuckles scrunched his eyes shut as hastily smothered chuckles from his friends told him at least one of them had made an immediate connection. Looking up, and realising Rouge was writhing in embarrassment as well, he smiled painfully up at his grandfather and spoke thickly,

"Thank you".

"No problem at all; now I better go and see if grandfather Spectre is ready for anyone yet. See you all later". With that and a wave, Athiar zipped back down the passageway he'd led them down; as soon as he was out of earshot, the guardian whirled and tried to stem the flood before it arrived,

"It's not like that!"

"R,really", Charmy tried to compose himself for the line; pointedly looking Rouge up and down, the bee then turned to Knuckles and asked innocently, "I have to ask; why not?"

For the second time in an hour, the guests of the Brotherhood fell into tears of laughter at the expense of at least one of its members.

XXX

Spectre was in his private sanctuary; the room he had built to Haven when the time had been right for him to do so. The library was a sheer repository of knowledge; texts from before the island had been broken in twain were here, as were other, equally ancient and priceless works. Most of the elder guardian's recent reading and more in-depth studies had been focussed on one particular book, but that had been set aside for now as he prepared for and equally important task. That didn't mean, however, that the primary problem had been ignored, far from it – Spectre's gift was needed to sift through the minds of the eight, but Sabre could carry on the studies of the prophecy with his medicinal mind; _maybe he'll see something on the outside of the words I can't see from the inside_. Spectre took a deep breath, clearing the last of the residual embarrassment from his fourth-son's mistake from his mind in preparation of the task of drawing information from as tangled a source as another functioning psyche. It was going to be a long day and, as his emerald gifts felt the presence of one of his sons approaching at a speed normally impossible for a land-based Mobian, Spectre groaned as he realised it was about to get longer. _Three, two one and…_

"Grandfather, grandfather", Spectre had to call on all of his formidable mental fortitude to prevent himself blasting Athair back through the door he'd just thrown open as very recent events involving lots of spraying, sniggering and self-pity, "guessswhatguesswhatguesswhat?"

"Put me out of my misery", _can't get away with the jacket this time; what to do_, "what is it?" Athair put his hands down on the table in front of him and his wide eyes sparkled,

"Some of the guests, they can fly as well; isn't it wonderful grandfather?" Athair went into a celebratory twist before, noticing the lack of a reply, he paused an turned, "grandfather?"

_Wonderful_; Spectre put a paw over his face and groaned aloud as this sank in;_ if he was bad before, he's going to be impossible to control now, but I wonder_; a glimmer of hope shone through the cloud of despair and the eldest guardian smiled; _this may just work – a way to get some of my work done and get Athair out from under our feet at the same time_. Leaning forwards, concealing the way the cogs of his mind were turning, the eldest member of the Brotherhood smiled as though he was genuinely pleased for his fourth-son.

"Really Athair; well that is good news. Which ones could fly?" Athair, cheerful oblivious to Spectre's plotting, settled back in the air as he ticked off on his fingers,

"There was the fox with two tails, I think he's called Tails"; _that'd make sense wouldn't it_?; Spectre resisted the urge to shake his head with difficulty, "there was Charming Bee and that cute little rabbit as well; all three of them". Spectre tapped the side of his face with a few fingers at though coming to a decision, before nodding and looking seriously at his descendent,

"Very well then; Athair, are you listening, I have a serious job for you".

"Ready, willing and eager ancient one". _Cheek_; Spectre rumbled off a growl from his throat; _I'm not that old yet whippersnapper!_

"Yes, well; go and invite the fox and the rabbit to see me when they're ready; I'll deal with them first, they seemed to be the youngest present. When I've done, why don't you give them a little present?" Athair cocked his head curiously as Spectre crossed his fingers under the table and fought to keep his face neutral, "take them to your training room; I'm sure they'd love to train with a flying master such as yourself".

"Right away fourth-father; thank you". With that, the flying menace was gone and Spectre fell back in his seat a little; _well, I've got him out the way for a minute, but how to…_; it was at that second, with that thought echoing in his head, the Spectre's gaze fell on one of the newest, thickest and most ill-used books in the library; _ah, yes, that will do nicely_.

A/N: Much as Athair is an extreme example, there's one in every family…you gotta love 'em!


	20. Chapter 19 Six Hours in Haven

Chapter 19 – Six Hours in Haven.

A/N: Sorry for the delay, huge chappie. There's lots of XXX in this chapter, but hopefully its not too confusing (let me know if it is though please; I'll tone it down in future fics). Once more thanks to the reviewers; I reckon even you, R. Wolfsbane, will be impressed at the amount of insanity packed into this chapter.

Rouge, still stinging from the laughter of not so long ago, rested her back against the wall next to the room Shadow had chosen for his own. She was still running Athair's words over and over in her head, hoping to lessen the embarrassment factor by repeated exposure; so far it wasn't working. She couldn't help but grin even as her cheeks went pink again – trust Athair to come out with something like that; _I still think that was Spectre getting revenge_. The bat had great respect for the black echidna and getting his own back on Knuckles breaking down on him like that by sending Athair to drop that kind of line would probably be just his style; so simple and difficult to spot it would have to be dismissed as coincidence. A click to her right brought her back to the present; Shadow's door opened and a second later the hedgehog himself appeared in the door, closing it quietly behind him as the bat looked slightly askew,

"That was pretty quick".

"What are you implying?" Shadow smirked as the bat grimaced; he couldn't resist piling it on, "I hope you don't tell Knuckles that sort of…yipe!" He ducked under a furious swipe as Rouge snarled at her one-time team mate,

"Keep up those quips and Spectre won't be able to read your mind through the coma you'll be in".

"Okay, okay", Shadow decided grovelling was infinitely preferable to a ticked off Rouge and threw his hands up, "I'm sorry, that was a bit below the belt; I shouldn't have said it". Slightly mollified even if her cheeks were still on fire, Rouge sighed and lowered her arm, shaking her head as she put her hands on her hips,

"Dead right you shouldn't have Blackie, but I digress", she smiled sweetly as Shadow call it even by letting the hated B-word slide, "if I should be after anyone it's Athair and that bloody bee; I can't believe he said that". Shadow smiled, chuckled and then offered his hand,

"Believe it sister, you got well and truly had. Anyway", he looked down the corridor that led away from the guest rooms; Rouge noticed the way his face fell into quiet seriousness and lightly took his hand in hers.

"Sure you're ready for this?"

"Yeah", he nodded and took a fortifying breath, holding his trusty diary in one hand, the attached pen swinging pendulously and catching the light from the corridor walls, "thanks, by the way…"

"No need to say it; you've helped me before in the past, even if you can't remember it. Now, let's go; this is a big place and I want to do some exploring as well".

"Still a treasure hunter at heart?"

"As always". Smiling at his friend's pride in her work, Shadow looked at the path he wanted to tread, so similar to one he could almost remember; _I walk the way I know, the one I need to remember – what was there that is here as well?_

XXX

Charmy stepped out of his room; he was ready to do a little walking and, he smiled a little as his stomach gurgled demandingly, try and find out if this place had much of a kitchen – due to the tumultuous start of the day, breakfast had been a little rushed. He thought about knocking to see if either of the other two were up for some munchies, but rapidly thought not; they probably had a lot more to unpack than he did and he didn't reckon they'd warrant the interference. Still, it wasn't all that long past noon, they had plenty of time to grab a bite to eat the bee mused as he opened the door… and came face to face with the mad echidna who'd just taken him for a whirl on the roof of this place.

"Athair!" The bee yelped as he fell backwards, heart pummelling his ribs as the echidna looked down in concern.

"Yes; are you feeling all right Charming?" Looking up from his now prone position, the bee grasped back enough breath to give a breathless reply,

"Fine, you know, just a little heart attack, nothing to worry about", he stood up, trying to muster up a shred of dignity as he did so, "and the name's Charmy, not Charming".

"Aww, but Charming suits you so much better", the echidna pouted; before the bee could think of a response he had gone off at a radically different tangent, "are Tails and the little rabbit girl here?"

"Umm, no; three and six doors down respectively; and she's called Cream; hey wait", Athair paused in his exit as the bee gave a slightly embarrassed grin and held his empty stomach, "is there anything to eat round here?" The echidna smiled and beckoned; warily, Charmy approached and stood in his shadow.

"Right, go down here and take the third right tunnel, then take the fifth left and there's one along there somewhere, if my memory serves me right; got all that?" Charmy nodded and Athair beamed at him before floating off and preparing to knock,

"Wait, I said three and six, not two". Somehow, the sight of Athair furrowing his brow, counting the doors and ticking his fingers didn't reassure Charmy, or his stomach's prospects of dinner, all that much.

XXX

"Hey rad", Knuckles looked over his shoulder at that call, not at all surprised to see Sonic tailing him, "wait up a second". The guardian felt his jaw drop loose as he digested what the blue hedgehog had said; as soon as Sonic pulled up the echidna had him by the shoulders,

"Who are you and what happened to Sonic?" The blue hedgehog cocked his head to one side, before lancing out his hands and tickling the guardian's ribs; Knuckles dropped him with a yell and sprang back as Sonic chortled,

"Good old electric shock; have to use that some more. Anyway, what are you on about?"

"The Sonic I know would never have to say 'wait up' to anyone", Knuckles said as he recovered, looking at the hedgehog in front of him calculatingly, wondering what his modus operandi was this time, "what's with the self-enforced speed limit?" Sonic laughed and slapped him on the shoulder, falling into step with him as the echidna met his eyes,

"And you're supposed to be the species that lives underground; there's at least three reasons I can think of", the hedgehog held up three fingers as Knuckles raised an eyebrow, "first, I have no idea of the layout of this place, so running fast is a bad idea; the Death Egg taught me that", he subconsciously rubbed his nose as one particular memory resurfaced at that example, "second, Haven's full of turns, so even if I did run I couldn't go full speed, but most important is there are too many other people here. What would happen if I went round a blind twist and smacked into someone; trust me at around five hundred or so miles an hour the results ain't pretty; just ask Metal Sonic". Despite himself Knuckles snorted at this – for once, everything Sonic had said made perfect sense and wasn't punctuated by a joke or anything of that sort.

"Fair enough, can't argue with that; if it gets too much, talk to Spectre – he'll probably let you out for a jog if you need one".

"I'll bear it in mind, thanks". The pair walked in silence for a few more minutes before Knuckles finally caved in and asked the question that was hanging in the air; this was so unlike Sonic there had to be a good reason,

"So why are you here?"

"To talk to you"; Knuckles looked over, mindful of the change in Sonic's tone as the answer came; the blue hedgehog's face was simultaneously piercing and compassionate as his next words were softly spoken, "is there anything you'd like to get off your chest?"

For a second the echidna simply couldn't reply; it felt like he'd caught a Thunderhawk grand-slam right in the gut as the words bounced around in his skull like a distorted echo.

"Wha…?"

"I saw your face earlier", the hedgehog came to a stop next to him and smiled warmly, "you looked like someone who's entire world had just come crashing down around them and is just starting to recover; you reminded me of when Nack saw Seraph's mark on Amy's hammer, just for a second". Knuckles blinked as he tried to draw the dots, mouth stuttering for words, mind frozen up on him in the light of this rare flash of hedgehog insight.

"Was, was it that, bad?"

"I don't blame you", Sonic carried on casually, keeping one eye on the route and the other on Knuckles, "I mean, there's not really much that can prepare you for something like that, not even after all we've collectively been through. I know you can survive pretty much anything nature throws your way, but, well, a helping hand can't hurt, can it?"

_I don't believe this_; Knuckles felt a few giggles resonate throughout his body; _I know a guy for what, over three years and he can still surprise me_. The echidna gave a strange, slightly twisted smile as he gave a reply,

"You know you sound a bit like Rouge; I've talked to her about what's going on and she said things similar to that".

"Good, it's the honest truth", Sonic looked up, pressing his advantage as he sought to prevent Knuckle bottling up his feelings; strong, painful memories of what had happened last time Knuckles had exploded and broken down helplessly, and how wretched he had felt for not seeing it earlier, were etched indelibly on Sonic's mind; _I made a promise then that I'd never let that happen again – no matter how much it hurt or how long it took, I'd talk to him about major upheavals in his life and by thunder I've not broken a promise yet._

"But there's things you can say to your girlfriend, and things you can say to a male bud". Despite the gravity of the situation, Knuckles let out a laugh,

"How would you know that; you finally admitting it to Amy?" _Not yet but I'm working on it – give me strength, you never quit – and one day you will see the truth and that is a promise_; Sonic gave a slight cough before grinning and stretching his arms behind his head,

"Hey, I'm not a completely insensitive macho jerk you know".

"Could've fooled me".

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that". Knuckles bunched his fists on his hips and smiled,

"I said; could've fooled me!" Sonic huffed, trying to act petulant but foiled by his own grin,

"Okay, I'll let that one slide, but only because this is massive and I'm feeling generous today".

"Right; not admitting my superior wit and charm then?"

"I'm not feeling generous enough to blatantly lie on your behalf", Sonic smiled for a second before cuffing the sniggering echidna gently and demanding, "right, I've made my concession, and I'm deadly serious now Knucks". _He is as well, and more to the point he's right as well_; Knuckles sighed as he realised there were a few things he'd omitted from his conversations with Rouge, either because he hadn't thought of them at the time or because he wasn't sure about discussing them with her, especially the ones that focussed on the batgirl herself.

XXX

"There were computers, lots of them"; the progress was slow and steady, much like their journey as Shadow spoke seemingly randomly; images he could only see blurrily or through a thick mist super-imposed on the clear backdrop of Haven. Small things were returning oh so slowly; when Rouge had opened a store cupboard, showing tins of various species, the hedgehog had laughed for a good five minutes; he definitely remembered that the food he had eaten had come from tiny parcels and needed water to swell up into more than a mouthful. Such a trivial detail, but it felt so good, so important that the hedgehog had been splintered into hysterics, eventually breaking Rouge down as well. Their impromptu bout of giggling had lasted until Locke, thinking they had gotten themselves lost, had happened by and managed to talk some sense into the pair of them. As they took another few corridors, the emerged into a descending corridor that contained two doors they could see; one was registered off-limits by the big red cross on it, while the other seemed okay.

"Tell me more about these computers; were they big; did you use them?" Rouge was almost certain the hedgehog was talking about the ARK and his early memories there, but she had to let him see that for himself, it was the only way to properly break his amnesia for good. Shadow paused again; a vague something tingled at him – him, there was a screen in front of him, something on it, something simple compared with now, but he had loved it then.

"I, er, I used one", Shadow closed his eyes, trying to picture the screen clear in his mind and speak; Rouge would listen to his words and tell him later, all he needed to do was remember. Face clenched, the black hedgehog spoke,

"It, was a small screen, no colour; there was something on it. Three shelters, they helped me; a row of little creatures, slowly going down, I had to stop them with a little bar at the screen bottom".

"Space Invaders!"

Rouge's voice exploded into his mind and he opened his eyes again, looking around at his companion as the bat smiled hugely,

"That game, the one you're describing, it's called Space Invaders. You must have played Space Invaders on a small computer. It's a very old game, so that would explain why you were playing it at the time".

"I'll note that down if it's an old game", Shadow reached for his notebook, excitement tugging at him as, small though it might be, that memory might link him to other, more important ones, "might be important later; did you ever play it?"

"Once or twice", Rouge answered after a second's thought, "I preferred Pong and Pacman though" she admitted as Shadow shrugged and leafed through what he'd got so far,

"So, we've got Space Invaders, lots of doors leading to small rooms and food in tiny packets so far; not bad considering the last couple of months have been barren". Snapping his book shut for a bit, the midnight hedgehog moved towards the door that was uncrossed and put his hand on the handle.

"Well, let's see what's behind door number eight". He pulled it open and held it to let Rouge step through into the darkness; he heard a single clap, followed by a single gasp as light shone through the opened doorway.

"I tell you what Shads"; he poked his head round the door and immediately felt his mind boggle; he glanced up as Rouge turned to face him, confusion and humour warring on her face as she gave a slight snigger, "whatever it is you're remembering, I'll bet it never had a room like this".

"I'll say"; _what the hell is this, and why the heck would anyone build – hey, wait a sec_; "where are you going?" Rouge took a couple more paces into the mysterious place and the black hedgehog watched on amazed as the floor contracted under her feet. Turning around, the bat smiled and beckoned with one hand.

"Well, it's not off-limits; come on, it looks like a laugh". Shadow was sorely tempted, but no, he had a chance to discover more of his past and that had to…he looked back and saw what Rouge was up to; _well, I guess it could wait for five or so minutes…_

XXX

Somehow, in the near-darkness of his echoing library, Spectre was a dark, brooding magnificence, far more dangerous and powerful than he had appeared outside; at least, that was the impression Tails and Cream were receiving, huddled together as they were in the doorway, almost afraid to enter the unknown for fear of what lay beyond.

"Go on"; the duo looked up as Athair descended to ear level with the pair of them, smiling as he nodded forwards with his head, "grandfather Spectre's waiting for you; don't worry, he's not all that scary". _Really fourth-son_; the black-furred echidna smiled in the dim interior; _will you be thinking that in a couple of hour's time I wonder?_ Setting aside thoughts of revenge for the moment as he realised he was dealing with children, and children he barely knew at that, he decided to lessen the impact of his supposed cloak of midnight.

Tails had taken the first tentative steps into the darkened room when a sudden clap sundered the silence and he leapt up startled, just about recalling the words Spectre himself had imparted to them in time to prevent total hysterical flight from this place. The lights overhead flickered into life, the kit heaving a sigh of relief, stilling the frenzied hammering of his heart as he felt someone move up next to him.

"Are you all right Tails?"

"Yeah, thanks Cream", the fox managed to gasp, an effort of will preventing his knees knocking together as his fears fled like the banished darkness, "just, the clap caught me off-guard".

"My apologies for that"; the voice came from behind them, but was so mild and seemingly apologetic that it failed to frighten either of the two younger Mobians; both turned to see Spectre approaching them. In the light, the black guardian's aura of fear seemed diminished; he had a slightly bent back as he struggled with a large book in his paws, moving up to them slowly. As she'd been taught, Cream moved forwards and offered her arms, speaking brightly as the elder echidna looked down,

"Please Mr. Spectre, let me take that". There was a low, mirthful chuckle as he regarded the diminutive rabbit in front of him; _proper manners, a helpful nature - this one's a jewel to rival the Master_.

"My thanks Cream". The echidna let the book slid into her outstretched arms,

"Wow, it's heavier than it looks".

"Weighed down with knowledge", Spectre assured her, a mischievous, almost youthful twinkle in his red eyes as he parroted one of his own father's sayings, "it goes up on that shelf there; I was going to use a little emerald magic to move it; want to see?"

"Sure"; with an instinctual understanding, Spectre focussed on the book and felt his power wrap around it gently; Cream and Tails both gasped as the tome lifted itself up from Cream's arms and swiftly slid back into its proper place on the shelf.

"Spectre, how does that work?" Tails was unable to contain his curiosity; he had enough experience with the Chaos emeralds to know they were inherently random and defied all the normal rules of nature's law, but this was the first time he'd ever come across these sorts of powers in anyone not powered by Chaos energy.

"An interesting question, and not one I'm sure has a definite answer", Spectre regarded the young scientist in front of him with mixed emotions; he could tell the fox was both inquisitive and in possession of a very keen mind – however, there was no way of knowing if that curiosity could spill into outright nosiness, and Spectre of all his family knew how much the guardians collectively had to hide, "I suppose the closest I can come to an explanation is that our powers are a result of our blood, years of training and an innate and continual connection to the Master Emerald itself. Locke would be the one to talk to; he's the mechanically minded among us".

"Really? I'll make a note of that" Tails looked forwards to the chance to talk to someone who shared his interests as the black echidna sought to keep this sojourn brief.

"Well, I'm almost certain you've got better things to do than sit in a musty place like this with a terrible old man like me". Cream gave a slight giggle at the joke and cocked her head coquettishly,

"You're not terrible Mr. Spectre". Try as he might, the eldest guardian had to laugh,

"I think my sons would disagree with you on that one Cream; now then, to business", Spectre brought forwards a single hand and slowly peeled off the glove surrounding it, talking all the time to ease the tension gently from the room, "as I believe my seventh-son, Knuckles, told you, I have a gift to do with the mind. All it requires is skin to skin contact and a little concentration on both parties; there's no pain or even any slight discomfort. All I need you to do is concentrate on the Master Emerald; think of it and it alone, if any other thoughts appear in your mind, let them drift away, focus on the Master and I'll do the rest. Now", he smiled and held his hand up for them all to see; both children were a little apprehensive but mostly determined as he asked sincerely, "which of you wants to go first?"

XXX

Vector was trying to stand still; he was mainly motionless, but there was no disguising the fact he was hopping uncomfortably from foot to foot and had a pained, slightly embarrassed grimace on his face. _They said not long, I hope they're right for their sake as much as mine;_ he gave an shrill breath as he exerted both muscular and mental control to prevent the brewing accident that was just waiting to happen. This was just so typical of his luck; trust him to get caught short when he had absolutely no idea where the nearest lav was.

"Feeling alright there?" _Saved_; the crocodile shuffled to face the voice, seeing the lavender echidna from earlier regarding him with a pitying look tinged with respect.

"Not too bad; just need to know…"

"Follow me", shaking his head, Thunderhawk turned on his heel and moved away Vector dogging his footsteps at a suitably restrained pace, "reminds me of when I first came here; things were a bit different back then, so I didn't actually know what one was. Brought a whole new meaning to the phrase peeing something up against the wall I can tell you".

"Don't make me laugh or we might both drown", Vector managed to choke, hunching over as he cracked a smile; just as he felt the crisis pass something about that last sentence twigged in his mind and he looked up again, "so, just out of interest, how long have you been here?" Pausing for a second, Thunderhawk tried to recall just how long he had been down here but, failing to establish an exact time, had to settle for his best guess,

"Say about a hundred and fifteen years all square; I've spent about forty in the field more or less, so that's about right". He heard the croc behind him whistle in admiration,

"That's good going; I can't imagine being forced to live with the same people for that long; crikey, with Charmy I'd be lucky to last a hundred and fifteen minutes".

"Oh we do get out a bit; we just have to wear something to cover our crests – there's only supposed to be one guardian per generation of echidnas, or so the old legends say, so we try to perpetuate the myths the keep the population of Echidnopolis off our backs. Not to say it always works, but we do try".

"A couple of slip-ups eh", Vector glanced up, noting Thunderhawk was counting the doors and praying he was near where he needed to be – the dam was creaking; to try and take his mind off things, the crocodile grinned painfully and spoke again, "let me guess; these slip-ups had something to do with that flying guy, whatever he is to you".

"He's called Athair, he's my third-son and he's a pain in the ass, but that's enough about him"; _thanks to him, we've all got Spectre breathing down our necks like a dragon with toothache_; Thunderhawk changed tack both to let Vector out of his misery and take his mind off the eventual doom that was hanging over him, "ah, this is it; it's not a bathroom, but there's a loo in here".

"That's all I need thanks"; with a last desperate effort the larger Mobian barrelled past the echidna and threw the door open, slamming it behind him as Thunderhawk laughed a little from the expression of mingled pain and relief on his scaled face.

XXX

Tails watched on amazed as, after a couple of minutes of gentle talking and cajoling, Spectre simply removed his bare hand from Cream's forehead and stepped back a pace.

"Thank you Miss Rabbit", Cream smiled as she looked up at the black echidna; it was as he was reaching for his glove that Tail's voice cut through to him,

"Spectre, you know you said your gift requires contact, is that why you wear those robes?" _Bright kid_; Spectre raised an eyebrow at this deduction from the fox, nodding to confirm his guess as he explained,

"Quite right; my gift allows me to draw information from any source I touch, and everything contains a little knowledge", he chuckled as he remembered back to his youth, when the magnitude of his gift had first become apparent, "I'm possibly the only Mobian, you did say that was the correct term yes?"

"Yep, means Mobile Mammalian" Cream chipped in.

"Well, I'm the only Mobian who can quite literally talk to a brick wall". Both children smiled, Tails remarking,

"Bet it's a bit of a one-way conversation though".

"Beats talking to my sons sometimes, and speaking of which, if I got this right, one of them should have a little surprise rigged up for you. Athair". The door to the library opened and the echidna himself glided in, looking for all the world like a five year old with a free ticket to a sweet shop.

"You're done fourth-father?" _You will be soon as well o cherished child of mine_; Spectre cut off his visions of revenge in time to prevent himself looking like he'd drifted off in thought.

"Yes, now show these two you-know-what; I give you my word it's a surprise you'll enjoy" he said to reassure Tails especially, who was looking at Athair as though preparing to dive out the way at a second's notice. Both of his guests said their thanks and farewells as Spectre nodded and, waiting until the door had swung shut once more, headed for the centre of his library. _Nice pair of children there, though I'm interested to know why the fox goes by a false name_; the eldest guardian gave a shrug as he reached his favourite space for meditation; _ah well, I've got what I need and have time enough to work on it – with a little bit of luck they'll both get to enjoy themselves and keep Athair amused at the same time._ Though there was a hint of shame in his emotions, Spectre couldn't help but feel proud of his neat little plan.

XXX

Unusually for Vector, the crocodile hadn't really taken in his surroundings as he had raced into the room Thunderhawk had led him to, though bearing in mind the circumstances that was perhaps understandable. However, aching bladder now fully relieved, the large green Mobian took a decent look around the room he entered from the cubicle – he then blinked, rubbed his eyes and looked again. Assuring himself it was actually real, he fell to his knees, offered a heartfelt prayer of thanks to whoever had treated him to this bounty and rapidly formulated a plan to let both himself and Espio benefit from this Heaven on Earth.

There was a click by the side of him; Thunderhawk glanced over as his passenger, Vector if his memory served him well, ran out the room, the strange device he wore over his head now held in a single hand as he fiddled with some kind of dial on the front of it.

"Stand back a bit mate, this is going to be a blast and a half". Vector didn't lie; a veritable wall of sound bellowed out the seemingly innocuous walkman and the croc nodded, turning to face Thunderhawk as he stood up,

"Right", he beckoned the echidna down the next corridor, upon which, slightly shielded from the hellish cacophony, Thunderhawk removed his hands from his ears and listened, "don't worry, I'm not leaving it that way for long; I just gotta find someone and come back; I'll just follow my ears".

"How can you still hear anything after you've had that beaten into your poor ears?"

"I don't usually have it that loud, but anyway, thanks for the help and I'll see you around". Thunderhawk nodded and shook the crocodiles' extended glove, watching on as Vector high-tailed it around the next corner and was lost from sight. _A little unorthodox I have to admit, but still not unpleasant;_ Thunderhawk shrugged as he ran the last couple of minutes over in his head; he then smiled as his emerald powers swept through Haven looking for strangers and he realised one of them had entered somewhere unusual. This could be interesting; in his mind he was hoping it was either the black hedgehog or that strange looking lizard; Knuckles had said both were great fighters and it'd be a challenge to test his mettle against someone new.

XXX

"Nearly there, nearly there" Athair sang as he flipped over and back-stroked leisurely down the corridor, either not noticing or not caring as his two followers shared a whispered conversation. At a nod from Tails, Cream did her best to look perfectly innocent as she asked innocuously,

"Just where are we going, Mr Athair?"

"Oh you'll love it", the brown echidna turned onto his stomach as he answered, all the time drifting towards his destination, "it's going to be a big surprise".

"I love surprises", Cream said brightly, crossing her fingers as she hoped the flying echidna wouldn't be able to see through her ploy, "come on, can I have a clue, just a little one? Please?" She went for it fully; the wide puppy eyes, the pleading expression, even the quaint twisting of her ears around her hands; however, this time she was to be thwarted as Athair shook a warning finger as he flew down the last corridor,

"Nice try; no clues for you though. Anyway",_ someone must have got a little misguided_; the flying echidna wondered why his private room was marked with a large red X before deciding he'd deal with it later – right now he needed to get his new friends to his training room like grandfather Spectre had instructed, "we're here". He pointed to the door that was unmarked with a flourish,

"What's inside?"

"A surprise" was all Athair would say; swapping a glance with his rabbit friend, Tails eventually mustered the courage to approach the door and, aware of what had happened earlier in the day and fully prepared to spring backwards at the drop of a hat, twisted the handle, throwing the door open fully. He looked for a second, heard the laughter and playful challenges from inside and his jaw fell open; _Athair was right – this is a surprise and a half._

XXX

"Amateur" Rouge shouted, Shadow recovering his feet after a slightly off-kilter dive glancing over to glare as she mustered the momentum she needed to launch another spectacular effort, "watch this!" When she had enough, the bat unleashed all the power of her legs, the spring of the rubber beneath her feet and a fearsome war shout to launch herself at the wall closest to her. Petty questions like what this room actually was and why the entire floor was a gigantic trampoline and the walls and ceiling were padded to allow you to ricochet like a bouncy ball had long been forgotten; since she and Shadow had found the place, they'd just been bounding around like mad things, challenging each other to see who could do the best tricks and longest dives. So far Shadow had the lead after bouncing off all four walls and the ceiling without touching the floor once, but the bat had something to beat even that; all she needed was a little luck and she'd take back her rightful crown of…

"Oh goody"; _ah, what…?_; the voice cut through to her, breaking her concentration as she leapt at the wall; before she could do too much about it she'd slammed into it, killing her momentum completely. For a second she hung their like a squashed spider before gravity gripped hold of her and she began to peel off of it. Cling as she might, there was no hope and she plummeted down to the floor again, twisting her head to try and see who'd put her off. What she saw made her heart stop beating in both embarrassment and panic; in the door way of this room where three figures, one of which was hovering several feet off the floor while the other two were beginning to break down into helpless giggles.

"You…" it was at that precise second that she impacted on the floor, bouncing upwards, limbs akimbo as the laughter started in earnest.

XXX

Tails collapsed against the door frame; he had thought nothing could top Sonic trying to shout at the telly while eating a chilli-dog, but the sight of Rouge trying to scold both him and Cream while bouncing helplessly on what looked like a giant bouncy castle took the biscuit for hilariously ludicrous sights. As he howled, he looked over in time to see Cream, eyes streaming with tears of laughter, raise a shaking arm and point; following her finger, Tails was driven to his knees at the sight of Shadow in a similar plight, trying desperately to kill the bouncing in a futile effort to look less foolish. He felt his own eyes begin to water as Athair passed overhead, waving at the two older Mobians as they finally began to regain their balance.

"Hello pretty Rouge, who's your friend? Do you like my little training room; helps people to learn how to fly, though it doesn't seem to work a lot of the time. I've tried for years to get my family in here to practise, but they never will". The bat nodded as the airborne echidna spoke though her attention was most definitely elsewhere; it was fixed resolutely on the folded up forms of Tails and Cream. Rouge was under no illusion that they wouldn't hesitate to let everyone know about this and she was trying desperately to think of something to stop them when Shadow made his presence known.

"Hey there, name's Shadow", the hedgehog couldn't keep the shame out of his voice as he shook with Athair, though as he did Rouge's keen eyes saw his hands move out of sight of the two Mobians at the door; the bat smiled slightly as she saw what he was trying to say. Taking very gradual steps towards the door, the bat had no problems acting ashamed as she put her hands up,

"All right, you got us both", another few steps were taken, she gauged the distances involved and realised she needed to keep them talking for a while, "now what's it going to take to keep your mouths shut?"

"There, there's not enough monehehehey in, in the wohohorld" Cream choked, looking up at the older Mobian and collapsing again; taking advantage of the distraction, Rouge moved up closer still and realised this was it; _time for a little payback kids_.

"Really, sure I can't convince you?" She put on a forlorn face as Tails nodded mutely, trying to control himself despite the images of both Rouge and Shadow bouncing around like a pair of out of control ping-pong balls racing in his mind; _fine, you had a chance_.

"Well then, in that case we've got a problem, because there's something you've both forgotten", it was as they were looking at each in confusion and concern that she sprang; suddenly the fox and rabbit found themselves both caught by an arm each as the bat sprinted forwards and immobilised them.

"In Haven, Vanilla can't hear you scream!" She turned and threw both of the smaller Mobians into the centre of the room; there were a pair of yells as Shadow pounced, Rouge pulled the door shut and Athair asked if he could join in.

XXX

_From destiny ascending_; Sabre read the words again and again as he sought to understand what the echidnas from ancient times had been meaning to say – the location of the gem of blood. _Destiny rising_; he flicked through a couple of papers off to his right, a thought occurring to him; even though he knew it was most likely a futile gesture, he had to try. As he had expected, nothing doing; there were no cloud formations recorded that were labelled as destiny or anything similar. The doctor folded his hands in his lap, twiddling with his monocle as he always did when a problem was niggling at him; he really couldn't see what he could do. He was not his fifth-father; he couldn't delve within the text and unlock the secret that way, though as Spectre had thus far had little luck he assumed there must be almost fathomless amounts of information contained within the ancient, faded text that his fifth-father was having a real problem trying to digest. Just as he was about to consider his next approach to the problem though, there was a knock on his door; swiftly hiding the book under a mound of paper on his desk, Sabre turned, replaced his monocle and called,

"Yes; come in". The door opened slowly and Sabre thanked his natural caution as he recognised the pink hedgehog girl from earlier; it wouldn't have done to let a guest snatch a glimpse of the text he'd been reading.

"Oh, sorry; I didn't realise this a", Amy glanced around for a second, trying to recognise just what the room she was now looking into actually was; when it finally clicked, she let out a little gasp of surprise, "a surgery?" Sabre smiled at her expression and nodded,

"Yes, welcome to Angel Island's smallest and most exclusive practise; I am Sabre, chief practitioner and general medical buff of the Brotherhood. Anything you need?"

"Erm, no, no I don't think so"; Amy tried desperately to remember which one Sabre was in relation to Knuckles, "are you Knuckles' father?"

"Grandfather; Locke is my son and Knuckles father, obviously", the echidna smiled warmly as Amy made to apologise for the mistake, "don't say sorry; I doubt Knuckles himself could do better yet; just one of those things we all have to learn when we arrive here".

"I see" Amy smiled and nodded; it was when she heard a gasp of astonishment that she jerked her head up again, disconcerted at seeing Sabre staring hard at her, "some, er, something wrong?" The echidna pointed at her; in all his years of medicine he'd never come across anything like that before,

"What's that on your ear? Are you hurt or something?"

"What", Amy's hand shot up to the indicted organ, but the only thing he fingers could detect was… "you mean this?" Working quickly, she took out the piercing Sonic had given to her and held it out for Sabre to see.

"What is it, and why's it in your ear like that? Is it some kind of medical thing?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that; it's called a piercing and, well I suppose it's done for fashion". Sabre looked at the tiny jewelled rose in his hand and glanced at Amy disbelievingly; _why would people do that to themselves, just for fashion. It makes no sense at all_; he cut off his line of thought was Amy spoke again,

"You don't have things like that in Echidnopolis?" Sabre scratched the side of his face as he tried to come up with an answer,

"They didn't last time I was there, but I haven't been out for a while so things may have changed a little since then. What else is there?" He motioned to a chair; keeping an eye on her host, Amy tried to understand what he was asking – Sabre luckily noticed the change in her expression and smiled a little as he elaborated,

"Sorry what I mean is how does the world work now? Let me explain; I, most of my family and the entire population of Echidnopolis are now in a world we know nothing about for a reason we don't yet understand", the irony of that statement wasn't lost on the echidna and he smiled grimly as he continued, "and as the guardians it's our duty to find out as much about this new land as we can before telling the council of the city – if we don't we could have a mass-panic on our hands. Rouge already said about the advent of aircraft, and I can almost guarantee Locke will at this moment be in his lab trying to build one, but there wasn't a lot of time to talk to her last night". Amy nodded as the reasoning sank in and she began to see where he was coming from.

"I think I understand; so", she smoothed off her dress and smiled her friendliest smile, "how can I help you; what do you need to know?"

"Well, for a start…", Sabre gave a slight squirm on his seat, smiling awkwardly, "…what species are you and all your friends?"

XXX

Charmy stood now in a room that made him feel smaller than he already was; every machine in her was calibrated to hold a weight far heavier than he could comfortably lift. The bee meandered around the weight's room, wondering what the purpose of the mat at the back of the room was, randomly testing how some of the more outlandish and strange looking exercise machines functioned and then standing in front of the large mirror in the casual weights section of the large hall.

Charmy would be the first to admit he wasn't exactly bulging with muscles; in Espio's colourful jargon, he'd seen bigger knots in a thread. However, on the opposite end of the scale he was in no way fat despite the seemingly huge amounts of sugar he ate every day; _gotta love that insect metabolism_. The youngest member of the Chaotix chuckled to himself as he picked up one of the sets of dumb-bells this part of the training room was adorned with and tried to lift them properly, like the pictures on the walls said they should be lifted. His shoulders began to burn with fatigue as he finished the second set of exercises and by the end of the third they'd packed up completely. Shaking his head, the bee moved to replace the weights he'd been using; it was as they clanked down amongst their fellows that a voice sent him jumping,

"Nice try kid", whipping around, the bee raised his guard to the sound of laughter, though he couldn't see where it was coming from.

"Who's there and where are you?"

"Up here"; Charmy glanced upwards and, to his quite understandable surprise, saw the purple echidna from earlier on one of the exercise beams; unlike normal, however, the echidna was holding his body rigid as an arrow, arms locked upright on the top of the beam, eyes fixed on the goggling bee. Charmy reached down for his notepad as Thunderhawk swung downwards, flipping in a full somersault to land comfortably on his feet. _Got it;_ Charmy quickly flicked through the pages until he came to the bit he needed; reading quickly, the bee looked back up at the echidna and spoke timidly,

"Umm, you're, are you Thunderhawk, per chance?" The echidna raised an eyebrow and smiled as he tried to recall who this one was from memory alone; so far it was proving a hard struggle,

"Yeah, that's me and this is my place"; _I give up_; "and who are you?"

"Charmy", the bee offered a hand, but strangely Thunderhawk didn't shake; he put his hands on his hips and bored into the younger bee with a glare that could have put a dent in a bank vault,

"Well Charmy, I see you enjoyed some of the equipment here", he pointed at the rack of dumb-bells behind the bee; as Charmy glanced, the echidna continued, "I don't know if you know, but there's a price for using this particular gym". The bee snapped around, not liking the idea of a price any more than he liked the glint of dark humour in Thunderhawks' eyes. The bee flicked his eyes to the exit and, reasoning he could make a run or fly for it if things turned really nasty, he met the echidna's gaze,

"Now what would the price be; I'm a bit strapped at the minute".

"Just as well, I don't take cash", Thunderhawk waved him over and started walking towards the strange looking mats at the back of the room, casually kicking off his shoes as he did so, Charmy trailing in his wake, wondering precisely what he was up to. Thunderhawk stepped up to his mat and, apparently just for the sheer fun of it, executed a forwards roll, coming to his feet facing his as yet unknowing opponent.

"Well, come on up; first to three falls or two tap-outs is how I usually play, but if you've a different preference I'm open to suggestions". The words finally clicked for the bee and held his hands up, shuffling backwards as he gabbled an explanation,

"Hey, hey, I'm not looking for a fight…."

"Just as well because I'm not either", the lavender echidna explained as Charmy cocked his head, "all we're doing is sparring; we have to go easy on each other. Don't worry, I've been doing this for probably longer than your grandfather's been alive". Having never actually had a grandfather he could remember Charmy couldn't quibble over this and, after all, he had used the weights and he was a guest here. Reaching down to unlace his shoes, the bee glanced up as Thunderhawk waited patiently, looking forwards to a new challenge for a change,

"You know, I'm not exactly a real fighter; if you want to try a real fight, go talk to Espio at some stage; he's the small lizard guy, usually purple but he's a chameleon, so his skin changes colour every so often".

"I'll make a note of that", Thunderhawk assured him, noting that as a potential future fight as Charmy stood up, shoes placed neatly to the side as he stepped up to the mat, "ready to go?"

"As I'll ever be" the insect said uncertainly, raising his hands in a sloppy guard as Thunderhawk bit back a sigh; the kid wasn't lying, he really wasn't much of fighter. His stance was poor and he was a head shorter than the older echidna at the least. _Still, maybe I can offer a few pointers_; the purple echidna mused as he instinctively raised his own arms; _been a long time since I had a student_.

"Right, first to three falls loses; on my shout; go!"

Charmy swiftly realised he was completely outclassed; Thunderhawk was stronger, faster and had a much better idea of what he was doing than the bee did. Still, now he was here, he wasn't about to go down without a fight; ducking and weaving as best he could, the bee dodged in close and threw a right hook, only to see his opponent block it and, swiftly capitalising on Charmy's flat-footedness, throw a quick counter punch that sent the bee reeling away, half-spinning him. Out of respect for his opponent's heart Thunderhawk deigned to follow up his blow; he hadn't expected Charmy to close with him and, had the bee been a little faster with his hand speed, he could have been in a fair spot of bother. It was a brave move from the little guy and Thunderhawk couldn't help but respect that,

"Keep moving", Charmy span back around, fists held high as Thunderhawk consolidated his position, offering a little advice, "don't stop in a fight; keep on your toes and it's harder for folks to hit you, especially if you're a smaller target". Charmy's lips drew back in a snarl as he was reminded of something Espio used to say,

"You calling me a shrimp?"

"Don't knock it; wish I was smaller sometimes. Now, again". This time the bee hung back, looking for his shot and, quite surprisingly for the veteran martial artist, seeing through some well concealed feints as well. _Oh well, if brains don't solve it_; Thunderhawk readied himself, preparing to take one to get one in; _brawn'll have to do instead_.

The echidna suddenly exploded forwards, fist cocked as his other arms sought to act as a guard against an opportunistic punch. Charmy tried to jump back but wasn't quite fast enough; though he managed to connect with a quick jab, it wasn't enough to slow Thunderhawk down and the echidna crashed into him, knocking him off his feet and sending his feet shooting out from under him, leaving him flat on his back. As the bee ended his fall, Thunderhawk felt a sudden pain in his ankle and hopped away, seeing a trickle of blood as he bent down to examine it, though it wasn't anything like a serious injury. Charmy heard him as he rolled up to his hands and knees,

"Damn kid, that's some blade you've got and no mistake".

"What?" _No way, I didn't, I couldn't have…_

"No panic, it's…" Charmy came to his feet and looked at his foe; …_I did_. And didn't he just know what the consequences of that were going to be.

A few minutes later, Charmy left the gym with a promise that he'd find help for his sparring partner. He forced himself to go slowly and draw out the route on a piece of paper, looking as thoroughly as he could for help, any kind of assistance but so far finding nothing. _Typical;_ despite the seriousness of the situation, the bee couldn't help but give a small, nervous smile; _where are Vec and Esp when I actually need them?_

XXX

"Paradise on Earth and goodwill to all men and Mobians", looking over from his reclined position on the hard bench, Espio beheld the sight of Vector relaxing in the moist, steamy interior of the room he had half-dragged, half-carried the chameleon to, "you know, I'm almost ready to forgive you for disrupting my mediation". There was a chuckle from his fellow reptile as Vector grinned toothily,

"Lucky me; if I recall rightly, weren't you ready to slay me mercilessly the second I put you down?"

"Well come on; I was relaxed and focussed, and the next thing I know this great green lummox bursts into my room, grabs me before I have a chance to defend myself, swings me over his shoulder and starts running. I try and ask what's going on and all I get back is 'running now, explaining later'; what was I supposed to think?"

"Aww Esp", Vector tried to look wounded but couldn't stop his smile, "don't you trust me after all we've been through?" The chameleon shrugged, stretched and then rolled his eyes backwards, struck by a sudden thought,

"You do of course realise this means we're going to have to treat Charmy; he got us here after all?"

"Good point", for a second Vector almost felt sorry for nearly strangling the bee as he'd tried to wake them up earlier in the day; this was enough to make anyone warrant a special kind of present, "wonder where he is now?"

"Probably up to no good", Espio shook his head, thinking of how to say thanks to his bee team mate before nodding at the water cup nearby, "throw some more on; I'm starting to dry out here".

"As you command your royal slipperiness"; Vector threw a cupful onto the coals and relaxed as a cloud of warm steam rose and filled the air; he didn't ask for much in life, so a free holiday to a place with central heating was a bonus. A free place with central heating and an equally free sauna was, as Espio said, sheer paradise.

XXX

"So that's all then" Sonic spoke after listening for ages and interjecting a few comments to clear matters up in his own mind, "well Knucks, all I can say is I'm mostly impressed".

"I'm flattered", the echidna replied, though there was none of the usual sarcasm in his tone, just as the hedgehog's voice was free of its usual jokiness, "but yeah, that's everything that happened".

"Cool; when all this is over, I want to see this city, Echidnopolis, right?"

"Sure thing; I can almost guarantee Rouge will want to take Amy and Cream shopping in the sales", the echidna gave an exaggerated sigh, "just my luck; there I am minding my own business when mum gets me by saying I need to buy a jacket, and as I'm doing so Rouge manages to wangle herself a new dress out of me. My poor wallet's going to need counselling if this goes on much longer".

"Look on the bright side mate; at least your mum seems to give a damn about you. If you don't mind I…" Knuckles guessed what he was asking and held up a hand to forestall him, smiling,

"Don't sweat it; as soon as all this is over and Spectre figures out you're all okay, I'm taking you all to meet her. I told her all about you, so don't worry about making a good impression; after what Rouge said about you I don't think it'll be possible", the hedgehog stopped suddenly, looking at the echidna gob-smacked as Knuckles looked commiserating, "sorry, she got there before I did".

"Well, don't worry", Sonic couldn't be held down for long and he stretched triumphantly, "I've got a new weapon in my arsenal thanks to you", as Knuckles raised an eyebrow, Sonic grinned and elaborated, "you said it yourself; touch her ears and Rouge is putty in your hands, and speaking of the bat herself, I've just got to ask"; _here we go_; Knuckles braced himself as Sonic's trademark grin reappeared on his face, "was that true what you said earlier, and be honest or I'll irritate the truth out of you".

"Not if I pummel you six feet under first you won't" the echidna threatened before sighing, "and yeah, it was; we sleep in the same bed I've got too much respect for her to ask for something she might give me just because I asked for it. Fuzzy logic I grant you, but so far it works". That stopped Sonic dead; from the was Knuckles was talking and the inflections he was making, certain suspicions were flagging up in the hedgehog's mind,

"Knucks man, you really think, I mean, she's like, the one?" The echidna laughed, properly laughed at the question; he clapped Sonic on the shoulder as he fought to keep his face straight and answer,

"Sonic, sometimes I can understand where Amy's coming from; when you're confused you say the funniest things. Of course she's the one for me you dummy; I've known that since she picked me up off my bedroom floor four months ago if not before. The only thing I'm not sure of is if she feels the same way; I know she cares for me, but is it love like a family or love like a romance? I can't tell, but I reckon I can find out soon". _Fantastic_; for a split-second Sonic was just consumed with happiness for his serious friend and his partner; _Knucks, you're a damn lucky guy – so are you, you just don't admit it – shut up, I'm being happy for him here – do so, but don't forget you wilfully ignore your own chance at happiness even when it's staring at you; don't leave it too long_. Sonic shook himself as a low buzzing filled the air; it took him a second to place, but when he did, Knuckles felt a tap on his arm and saw Sonic give him a ghoulish grin,

"Well, speak of the devil; what say you get a bit of your own back".

XXX

Charmy hadn't stood a chance; one minute he'd been hovering gently along the corridor on a quest for help, the next there had been a shuffling sound from behind him and something that felt very much like a python had wrapped itself around his body and dragged him down. As it was behind him and constricting his wings, there wasn't a vast amount he could do before it wrapped around his throat. It wasn't tight enough to be more than mildly uncomfortable but, as the voice dripped mockingly into his ear from his shoulder, he realised with dread it could quickly get tighter,

"Well well, if it isn't my little embarrassing bee friend", Charmy tried to speak but Knuckles cut him off, "now what do you think I should do with you?"

"You", Charmy pulled at the arm around his neck, trying to loosen it up enough to speak clearly, "you should follow me".

"Now why should I do that; you're trying to weasel out of this aren't you?" The bee felt himself swung around and saw Sonic leant casually against the wall nearby, smiling as Knuckles gave his prisoner a little shake, "nice try fly guy; I reckon I aught to find Rouge and hand you over to her".

"You evil echidna", Sonic grinned as Charmy gathered his breath for one last try, "she'll marmalise the little guy, but on the other hand that was a bit of a nasty trick so…" Charmy made his last desperate gamble; throwing his weight forwards, the bee shouted as loudly as he could manage,

"Knuckles, your fifth-father needs help!" As he felt himself dropped, he heard the echidna's voice drop to a concerned hiss,

"Really, where is he and what happened?" Charmy accepted Sonic's hand to pull him to his feet; as he recovered the scrap of paper with the route drawn on it, he gave a slightly embarrassed smile,

"Well, there was a bit of an accident, but it wasn't my fault, I swear it". Knuckles and Sonic swapped a glance before heaving a simultaneous sigh; _well, something was bound to go wrong at some stage._

Five minutes later…

"Oh Charmy", Sonic beheld the prone figure in front of him and covered his eyes with one hand, expression pained as he dragged the hand down his face and asked resignedly, "why'd you do it?"

"I didn't mean to", the bee defended himself, pointing at the slight scratch on Thunderhawk's ankle as proof of his point, "we were sparring and he knocked me over; I went down on my back and stung him by accident, and it was an accident". Knuckles had his back to the sight; both companions had assumed he was in shock at the sight of Thunderhawk lying completely prone and paralysed on the sparring mat, arms still raised in a guard as Charmy's venom had seeped in and done its work. However, the real reason was that he was biting his tongue not to laugh; _the mighty Thunderhawk, humbled by Charmy – I'm remembering this for all time and he's not going to forget about it._ Taking a deep breath and ensuring he wasn't about to earn a pounding when his sixth-father recovered by giggling at his plight, the guardian turned around and looked at the culprit sternly,

"Right, how long does it take for that stuff to wear off?"

"Normally about three or four hours", Charmy thought for a few minutes before looking up hopefully, "but he didn't get a big dose, so maybe it'll be shorter than that, say about two?" Knuckles nodded and then looked hard at both other mobile Mobians,

"Right, well I'm fairly sure my sixth-father's got better things to do than lie here for a couple of hours, so as far as I can see there's only one thing to do". Beckoning them closer, the echidna outlined his plan. After a few minutes, all three looked down at Thunderhawk's motionless form; from the looks in their eyes, the lavender echidna felt whatever they had planned was going to be less than pleasant for him.

XXX

Athair had left the four in his room; he enjoyed the game they'd been playing and he prided himself that, however much Tails and the cute rabbit had said otherwise, he had managed to see that Shadow and pretty Rouge had only been playing; the shouts of pain and mercy were all faked. _Kids these days_; Athair smiled as he remembered the fun he'd had as a child on Angel Island, the single gripe he had against the existence of a guardian was that it got so boring being on your own all the time. He used his emerald powers to see what was going on and if anyone needed his help in getting unlost; however, as he paused in mid-air and focussed, he became aware of a couple of voices in the distance. Shutting off his scanning for the moment, curiosity piqued, he floated towards the source of the noise.

"…all your fault you overgrown mosquito".

"It was an accident; geez, a guy makes one mistake".

"Mistakes I can deal with, but this guy weighs a tonne", Athair realised the voices were approaching him and drifted closer, recognising two of the voices as being his third-son and Charming; the third wasn't so easy to place, "my arms are about to drop off".

"Drop him and when he wakes up he'll drop you flat on your butt; take it from one who knows".

"In case you've forgotten, it was him doing just that that got us into this mess; now where are we going again?"

"To try and find Sabre, he's the medic as far as I can tell". _Sabre;_ Athair wondered why anyone would be looking for his son when suddenly the speakers rounded the corner; the flying echidna took a single look at the odd procession they formed and gaped.

"What happened to my third-father?"

XXX

_Oh great_; Knuckles looked up at Athair and, despite himself, let out a sigh; _just when things couldn't get any worst, he has to show up_. It was at that point that Knuckles looked behind him and realised just how stupid they must all looked to observers. Thunderhawk was still rigid as a plank but the trio had decided they couldn't just leave him to clear the poison on his own; therefore, the only thing they could do was to carry him to the surgery of Haven and look for Sabre. Unfortunately, the lavender echidna was built like a brick outhouse and seemed to weigh a similar amount as well; in the end the three had been forced to come up with a rough system for carrying the rigid echidna. Knuckles held his sixth-father's head and shoulders up while Sonic was in a similar position with his feet; this had left just enough room for Charmy to squeeze underneath and support some of the weight with his shoulder. Thunderhawk was then lifted up, arms still raised in a guard position, and the three had set off, though progress was slow due to both the weight and the fact they had to navigate so many corners. Now this was the latest in a long line of catastrophes; Knuckles tried to reassert control of the situation before the tears in Athair's eyes could spill out into unstoppable grief,

"Athair, listen; he's not hurt, he's just, well, we need to get Sabre and…" he never finished; the flying echidna took off, screaming for his son at the top of his lungs as he raced forwards in a blind panic. Knuckles watched him go with a feeling of impending doom; he somehow doubted his sixth-father would approve of a big crowd to witness him in his current state, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

"Excitable guy isn't he?"

"Not quite the word I'd use", Knuckles mentioned as he began to place his part of the burden of the ground, motioning for the others to do the same, "but we better wait here to see what he does next; if he bring Sabre all well and good, if not, we'll carry on".

XXX

He'd just finished taking notes on the use of a watch and was wondering if Locke could possibly design on for him when it happened; the door to the surgery blasted open, sending Amy diving to the floor as Athair screeched to a halt and bellowed,

"Songetgoingit'sgrandfatherThunderhawk. Comeonewe'vegottosavehim". _There's not a lot you can say to that_; Sabre felt a couple of hands grip him the shoulders and heave him aloft; he had just enough time to grab his medicine bag and shout he'd be back soon to his guest before his father propelled them both out the door. Idly as the tunnels and wall lights raced past, Sabre wondered what had gotten his father so wound up.

_Yep, that'd do it_; Sabre tried to maintain and air of medicinal impartiality as he saw the rigid form of Thunderhawk on the floor but couldn't stop a small smirk appearing on his features. He noticed the guilty looks on the faces nearby and, polishing his monocle before replacing over his left eye, he sighed and began his diagnosis,

"Right, what happened?" Both his grandson and the blue hedgehog he recognised as Sonic pointed to the other Mobian; Sabre reached a conclusion even before he started,

"Well, we were sparring in the gym and, well, I slipped and he got, I'm really sorry, it was an accident, but…"

"Bee sting; and there was me thinking it was just an early onset of rigor mortis"; Sabre considered it a good thing his fourth-father couldn't respond to that for the minute; Thunderhawk tended to be a little touchy about his age, "don't worry, I have some anti-venom at the practise; bring him with you and we'll sort him out".

XXX

Amy watched on as, about ten minutes after Athair had left with Sabre in tow, he returned and held the door open from the air. Sabre followed and, next minute Amy had to hold her breath as a strange procession trooped in behind him; it looked like Sonic, Charmy and Knuckles were carrying someone else over their shoulders; someone purple and unmoving.

"Amy", her attention was caught by Sabre's voice, "could you do me a favour?"

"Umm, sure". The echidna smiled warmly and pointed,

"Through that door's where I keep all my medicines; go in and look for a bottle labelled Bee AV; I'll deal with this lot". The pink hedgehog nodded and pushed open the indicated door; it was dark inside, but luckily the bottle she'd been after was clearly visible from the light pouring in from the room she'd just exited. She picked up the straw yellow bottle and headed back, handing to Sabre as he smiled warmly,

"Excellent, that's the stuff; now for a needle and", he took a sample of the anti-venom in a syringe and, after checking the dosage and Charmy assuring him it was a small sting, he turned to the rest of them, facing away from Thunderhawk so the lavender echidna wouldn't see him grin, "the rest of you should get out of here before this takes effect; my fourth-father is likely to be in a foul mood when he regains the use of his limbs".

Charmy eeped and headed for the door slowly, followed by Knuckles and Amy, who assured Sabre she'd see him again in a little while; Sonic, however, looked up at Athair questioningly, a idea for a bit of fun beginning to form in his mind. As the flying echidna headed out, Sonic stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Did you want something Sonic?"

"Yeah as a matter of fact", the hedgehog smiled a mischievous, plotting smile that Athair quickly mimicked, "can you take me to the longest, straightest bit of Haven; don't worry, I'll explain on the way".

XXX

_Finally, I am satisfied_; Spectre stood up once more, having completed a most through examination of the information he had taken from the minds of the two younger children. As he had suspected, neither of them held any threat to the Master, though the reasons why were subtly different. _Also;_ Spectre smiled in his isolation as he decided there was just time to go for one more of the guests today; _I can understand why the fox goes by a false name. Miles Prower – and the guardians complain they have harsh parents_!

XXX

"Ready Athair"; the brown echidna looked up from his position on the hedgehog's shoulder and beamed,

"Ready as ever; at your shout right?"

"Yep, not before", Sonic reminded him as he squared up and prepared for this run, "and away we go!" Winding up, Sonic took off down the corridor Athair had assured him was a straight as Haven could get, picking up speed every step of the way. The edge was looming as Sonic felt he had enough and bellowed,

"Now!" A few seconds later, two sets of victorious yells echoed throughout Haven.

XXX

_To Cream, the Master is just a bauble_; Spectre mulled over the conclusions he'd made, trying to spot any points he'd missed as he headed for the exit; _she realises it's powerful, but she respects that, in her mind, it belongs to Knuckles and the very thought of stealing is abhorrent to here. Even if that were not so, she barely registers it's existence – the rest of the island is much more fun and she'd much rather be out there that at the shrine_. The black echidna shrugged as he nearly made it to the door.

XXX

The thrill was pulse-pounding; Athair had run before, but this was like nothing he'd ever done in his long life. The brown echidna squeezed his eyes open a crack, watching the walls blur past and the floor whizz by. Raising his voice against the wind Sonic was creating, the brown echidna yelled,

"Wahoo, this is so much fun".

"Tell me about it", Sonic bellowed back, keeping his eyes on the route and occasionally flicking them down at the floor; with a combination of Athair's levitation and his speed, the pair of Mobians were giving a whole new meaning to the words roof-running.

XXX

_Miles, or Tails as he prefers to be called, is different_; Spectre recalled he logical, well-ordered mind he'd stepped into when merging with the fox; the reason it hadn't taken him long to determine the kit's trustworthiness was that his mind had been clear and concise in its thoughts. _He recognises the Master is powerful, but as such he understands the reason it needs to be kept away from those who would do it evil. He knows what can happen when power is misused, and is wary of it. He has even helped my seventh-son in the past before now._ It had been that fact that had swung the balance for Spectre; Tails had helped Knuckles in his duty before and he guessed he'd do it again if the need arose. _So, two down and six to go – time for the next guest_. Spectre opened his library door, opened his mind to detect things nearby and promptly headed for the nearest corner; if he was right, the next one was rapidly approaching him right now.

XXX

Sonic blazed around the corner and heard Athair try to shout something; he bled off a little speed and listened again,

"…A second; I'm just stretching my arms". Sonic felt a weight drop from his shoulder and nearly stopped dead; it was only the swift realisation that if he did he'd fall to the floor head-first that stopped him. He had to carry on, hearing Athair's last despairing shout of,

"Hey, I said wait" as he shot around the next bend.

_Great, I can't slow down or I'll fall and if I try to run down the wall I might hit someone – come on think, there's got to be a way out of this_. As if on cue, his mind suggested the most logical course of action and without a thought, Sonic obeyed,

"Help; get me down! I can't stop!" He shot onwards, calling at the top of his lungs until he began to get a strange sensation around his middle; it felt like someone had snagged him with a bungee cord and he was reaching the last of the limits. He felt his speed dropping and suddenly, he fell, having just enough time to curl into a ball before he impacted on the floor. _Well that wasn't so…_; it was at that momentum that the bungee rope twanged; without being able to stop himself, Sonic rolled back the way he had come, bouncing a little as the momentum from his run and the resultant fall bore him aloft once more.

"Oof, dammit, son of a, I'm gonna kill that nutter; umph!" With a sudden lurch, the ride stopped and Sonic straightened himself out flat on his back; it was only after a couple of seconds recollecting his bearing that he discovered he was looking up at someone, someone who had probably saved him from that run.

"Thanks for that, I think".

XXX

"You're welcome", Spectre waited for the groggy hedgehog to get to his feet before asking the obvious question, "and, er, just why and how were you running on the roof of Haven?"

"Well I can go fast enough to stay on the ceiling, so me and Athair were…"

"Stop"; _had enough of him for one day_; Spectre held up a hand to forestall the hedgehog he recognised as Sonic, "that's explanation enough; but since you're here…"

"Oh I get ya", Sonic cottoned on and nodded, "you're the one with the mind reading powers; Spectre right?" The black echidna nodded sagely and Sonic smiled,

"Right then, let's do this; lead the way Speccy". A split-second later, Sonic found himself suspended upside-down and level with the black echidna's burning eyes; he managed a cheesy smile as Spectre growled,

"Call me that again, and", his lips parted in a definitely unfriendly grin; _for some reason I'm now glad I did the other two first_; "I'll tell my family what the M means". Sonic felt it coming and then, realising his horrid middle name was becoming ever more common knowledge, let all his frustration out in the only way he knew,

"AAAAARRRGHHHH!"

XXX

A crushing grip on the back of his neck confirmed what he'd suspected; Sabre rolled his eyes backwards and said in a raspy voice,

"Ah, grandfather, good to see you up and about".

"Three seconds to tell me why I shouldn't contract a sudden bout of rigor bloody mortis in my hand and crack the back of your neck Sabre". Though he couldn't turn around, the captive echidna caught a reflection and saw, to his evident relief, that though Thunderhawk was angry, he wasn't outright blazing and could still be reasoned with.

"Because I let you get away with it". The grip tightened a little, sending electric tingles up the red echidna's neck as his purple relation grated,

"Get away with what exactly quack-boy?"

"You know what", Sabre paused to take in a breath before explaining, "I know you could have used a gift to drag yourself here, but instead you let those three carry your lazy self to me. Now let go or I'll let them know about it, and just for the record I don't have much bee anti-venom left". To his relief, the grip released and he swung around in his chair to see Thunderhawk smile crookedly,

"I was wondering if you'd figure it out; yeah, I just fancied putting my feet up and letting someone else do the work for me for a change". Sabre rolled his eyes and smiled before standing up,

"Well grandfather, I suggest that, now you have use of your lazy legs, you might want to use them to find something to eat; it's past six o'clock, the anti-venom took longer to work than I thought it would".

"Really, better get myself fed then. Coming?"

"Give me a second", Sabre reached for the book Spectre had tasked him with reading; Thunderhawk saw it and nodded,

"Any luck?"

"No, and I'm, er, I'm starting to worry grandfather", Sabre looked up at his older relative concerned, some of his fears beginning to show on his face as he spoke, "it's been several days since the process began; it could call the child again at any time now, we don't know how strong he has become. What happens if we're too late?" Face softening, the lavender echidna looked his favourite relative squarely in the eye and put a soft hand on his shoulder,

"Sabre, don't worry, for the simple reason there's no point", he elaborated as the red echidna glanced up sharply, "your hands can't hit what your eyes can see; we're fighting an invisible enemy now and until either we get lucky or he makes a move we can't do anything about it. Spectre's working like there's no tomorrow to see the way and so are you; just put your faith in the Master – if nothing else that's protected from him; he can't see past the runes".

"You're right Hawk, thanks", Sabre looked up, a little refreshed as the wisdom of the words sank in. He gathered up his things and looked towards the door,

"Now, let's see what our guests have left us in our kitchens".

XXX

The hours rolled by for everyone present; the activities of a long day and several trips of transport had tired most of those present, so the evening was a rather subdued affair. Sonic, Shadow, Amy and Cream had, at Locke's suggestion, been taken to one of the recreation rooms of Haven and were channel surfing, noting with interest that there was a surprising amount of variety for three channels. Tails, having been informed that Locke was a mechanic as well, had disappeared with him, quoting random scientific theories that no-one else could make head nor tail of. Knuckles and Rouge were sparring under the watchful eye of Thunderhawk in the gym and, quite surprisingly, Charmy as well; the bee trying to learn a couple of tricks at the same time as avoid Thunderhawk's steely eye. No-one had seen Vector or Espio but, as there had been no accidents, calamities, blaring music or stray ninjitsu stars flying around, it was assumed they were out of trouble. In fact, it was in the quietest room in Haven that the loudest discovery was being made.

_They were all running_; Spectre saw in his mind the results of several hours of meditation and focussed thought – the hedgehog's memories and feelings had been quick and sharp and frustrated his efforts to catalogue them, like quick minnows evading a child's net. However, he had finally a coherent picture that was proving most interesting indeed; _everyone is there_._ They are all playing, laughing having fun, but_; there was an outside figure in this pattern, a red echidna watching on with his arms folded as though such frivolity was beneath him. _Knuckles_; Spectre recognised his seventh-son; _as the others beckon and ask him to join, he shakes his head – they ask why and…_; for a seconds, the dream wavered as Spectre almost lost control – the memory Knuckles had bowed his head and pointed down; for the first time Spectre realised there was something different about him, compared to all the others in the hedgehog's memories.

In Sonic's view, Knuckles had one of his legs encased in an immovable object; as he tried to run and move, the Master Emerald dragged him, slowed him, made it so he could never be with those who respected him, liked him and called him friend.

_He sees it as a millstone!_; for a second, Spectre was stunned into speechlessness – Sonic was dismissing the most important thing on Angel Island as nothing more than a barrier between Knuckles and the others. But the vision wasn't yet done; from the throng of others, a white streak shot from forwards and suddenly the Master was broken apart, sundered into fragments; _this actually happened!_ Spectre recognised a memory when he saw one; at some stage in the past, the white blur he recognised as Rouge had broken the Master.

Confusion warred with logic within Spectre's mind; _why would my seventh-son have feelings for, maybe even love, someone who has wounded the Master so? Wait, what's this?_ The vision shifted; Knuckles had been collecting the shards and seemed to be rebuilding the weight around his own leg, sacrificing his chance to be with the others to protect and guard the Master. However, as he reached for another piece, the bat stepped forwards and gripped his hand, smiling slightly. The eldest guardian watched on amazed as she moved closer to his seventh-son and helped him; when the vision faded, both Knuckles and Rouge stood with the Master encasing one leg each, the others applauding the decision as they both put an arm around the other.

_So, he sees the Master as a weight around Knuckles' neck, but also the means by which he and Rouge were united. He wishes the Master did not exist at all, so then Knuckles would be released of his burden and could be friends with the others, and maybe meet new people_; Spectre broke away, the scene dissolving before him as he returned to his own body, a lingering thought suffusing his mind; _Knuckles has a real friend in that blue hedgehog and vice versa, even if neither will admit it_.

Spectre coughed once and stretched, standing up as he realised with a jolt of shock how late it was; he had been immersed in thought longer than he'd thought he'd been. _Well, that's all for today, oh wait_; a devilish grin appeared on his wrinkled face as he realised that wasn't quite true; _one last little thing to do…_

XXX

There was a knock on his door; as always, Athair glided over to open it and stick his head out to answer,

"Hellurk!" A white glove shot forwards and grabbed him by the neck,

"Hello fourth-son"; _I've been looking forwards to this all day_; Spectre smiled evilly as he continued, "come with me a minute, I've got a little job for you". With that, he turned without releasing his grip, using his emerald powers to prevent Athair making a break for it and he kicked and flailed in the air.

"No grandfather!" The flying echidna saw what was present and let out a moan of horror, "not that, pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease, noooooooo!"

"Yes", Spectre assured him, throwing him forwards into the library and shutting the door behind him, "I want three pages copied out…"

"Three, no, I can't…"

"…in full…"

"Ahhh!"

"…with joined up writing!" Athair buried his head in his arms; the sheer horror of the mind-numbing tedium he was going to have to go through burning into him as Spectre eased himself into a comfortable chair and smirked,

"You may begin, unless you want the jacket for the next six months". Weeping, slowly and with great reluctance, Athair picked up the pen and began the agonisingly long, slow torture of copying out pages of the Echidnopolis telephone directory onto a blank sheet of A4, Spectre in the background checking for mistakes.

_This is the life_; he wasn't maliciously cruel normally, but in his private moments Spectre had to admit that, every once in a while, it felt good to bring someone as cheerful and odiously pleasant as Athair back down to Earth with a bump, especially if he deserved it. Unfortunately, perhaps, he was so caught up in pouncing on every mistake the flying echidna made that he neglected to sweep Haven for visitors; had he done so, he may have realised sooner that, though eight bodies had arrived in the ancestral home of the guardians, that didn't mean there were eight minds to go with them.

A/N: Praise the Lord, I did it; thirty eight pages in under four days! Hope I packed enough insanity in here to please even the most random people for a while. Next chapter, the ninth mind is explored and things start getting darker…


	21. Chapter 20 Run through the Darkness

Chapter 20 – Run Through the Darkness.

A/N: Short chapter, but this one really counts. Just have to apologise for tardiness in the posting of this one; I've just moved house and am in the process of looking for a nine to five job, and to top it all off our internet's up the creek without a paddle (and probably missing a canoe as well :-/), but I'll do my best to try and get the chappies up as soon as I can (wanted to give you all a monster to keep you busy; chapter 19 was huge!) Now that's cleared up, some words of thanks:

TH – Yep, Athair is completely nuts, not playing with a full deck, a couple of slices short of a bread loaf and/or all of the above. But at least he's nice with it (could you imagine him trying to do an Eggman – half his enemies would laugh themselves to death and the other half would go as mad as he is).

Sonicron – Ain't I a teaser? And yes, I want one of those cool rooms as well – hopefully my local laughing academy is forking out for an extension just for me and me – no, bad second personality, get back in the cupboard, ah hell – bear with me a sec, I've got to hunt him down again (author grabs tranq gun and Elmer Fudd hat).

Amy's eyes had slipped shut almost before her head had touched the beautifully fluffed up pillow; the day had been so tiring, both mentally in terms of taking in new information about both Knuckles and his new, extended family, and physically in that the few hours she'd been in Haven had been more packed full of action than even the Boxing Day Bash had been. The young hedgehog felt her control slip, giving herself up to her dreams and deep slumber with a grateful sigh – had she known, had she been able to glean even the faintest insight into what occurred that night while she rested fitfully, she would have forever forsaken the idea that sleep was in any way a restful state of affairs.

_The host recedes, I feel her psyche grow dormant; this operation will be ticklish and delicate. I must carefully subsume myself into her memories and, through them, hope to draw more information about the strange crescent marks on the fur of these…echidnas. What does the host know about them, and the hated green? She knows, and what is hers must be mine also; this mystery is all I hold, I must unravel it at the cost of all else. I must fulfil my purpose, and this is the only way._

From the exterior, it had appeared Amy had taken an unnecessarily deep breath, though she remained rested, not so much as an eyebrow flickered as the being slowly and with the care of a surgeon, began its internal work.

The pace was slow at first, the interloper careful not to disture the sl2eping h2st; to eo so was to invdte disaster, and that the being could not allow, not so close. It paused for a second as it realised this thought; it knew, somehow it instinctively knew that, by undertaking this course of action, it was closing in on its goal – the risks were more than justified by the potential rewards. With increasing haste the being pressed on, early memories flitting past like leaves in a gale as it realised these repositories of knowledge, though interesting, were ultimately useless to its cause. It needed more recent experiences and, there was a hint of pride as the first of many banks of memories were opened and unknowingly ransacked, from the sidelines it watched on as its host relived the experience placed in front of it.

_Amy was a little concerned; Sonic had mentioned in passing the presence of another Mobian on Angel Island and he was currently stood not five feet behind her, but even she couldn't help but feel a little browbeaten by the silent walking slab of rock in front of her. Her frightened eyes drank in every detail as though they'd be the last she'd ever see; she saw and remembered the rippling muscles on the echidna's torso and arms, the piercing glare of his glowering lilac eyes and the scowl that seemed to want to consume her to ash. However, most of her effort was concentrated on the mighty paws, and more importantly, on the four daggers that armed these terrible weapons. Suddenly her own Piko Piko Hammer seemed small and insignificant; she had no illusions that, had the stranger in front of her wanted trouble, she'd have less chance than a snowball in a blast furnace of coming out on top. She was so caught up in her own trepidation that she utterly failed to hear the stranger speak at first,_

_"…the one Sonic?" Some of her lost courage sidled back into the firing line as her hero answered the low growl with his normal bright voice,_

_"Yeah, this is Amy Rose; I've known her even longer than I've known you, so be nice". For a second she thought the echidna had bared his teeth at the playful threat, but then she recognised the lip movement for what it truly was; a smile. Awkward and reluctant, but a smile nonetheless. At least he was Mobian after all; Amy took a breath as the scouring gaze locked onto her once more and he stepped forwards; the pink hedgehog almost fancied she could see puffs of dirt rise at each footstep. His strides brought him within arms reach of her and the same, awkward smile emerged on his lips again,_

_"So, you've known Sonic how long?"_

_"Umm", she finally found some of her deserted courage and, after lodging an accusation of cowardice against it, forced it to do her bidding by answering her questioner, "a,about two years now?" There was a bass booming as the echidna chuckled deep in his throat, his shaking shoulders making the thick red cords of his tied off hair sway as though in a stiff breeze._

_"And you're not stark raving mad – I'm impressed". Amy managed to echo his slight, shy smile and reply,_

_"He's not quite that bad", she glanced over her shoulder and caught Sonic beaming at her praise, "most of the time". The red Mobian let out the same gruff chortle as the blue blur's voice caught her,_

_"Amy, I'm hurt"…_

The momentary look of the fear on Amy's relaxed face fell away; in her mind's eye the apprehension she had felt with Knuckles had quickly fallen away to respect and, perhaps a touch of pity as well.

_Pity?_ The being analysed the host's reaction to re-exposure to the memory; it had seen enough of the red echidna to accept hat first contact would be an intimidating experience, but pity – what was the reason for that? And also, why did the blue Sonic hedgehog and two-Tails the fox refer to him as the guardian? _What does he guard?_ In it's central core, the being had a kernel of suspicion but, as its logical mind accepted the anomaly in host response, it realised there were no room for assumptions, proof was the only accepted medium. Carefully filtering her memory once more, the being quested for answers; the quest continued until a single flash of gold in the field of the host's mind gave immediate pause.

_Clutching all the seven precious stones, Sonic raised them over his head and clashed them all together. There was an explosion of gold, forcing Amy to turn away and blink rapidly for a few seconds; when she looked back, she had to blink again, for the Sonic she knew was gone._

_In front of her, standing in the exact spot the blue hedgehog had been, stood another, but he couldn't possibly be the world famous blue blur. He was taller, and glowing a gentle yellow interspersed with gold colour, the quills on top of his head standing upright and looking as sharp as spear points. The newcomer shook his head and set his eyes on the monstrous form of the liquid beast in front of him; it was as his mouth twisted into an all-too-familiar grin that Amy managed to court the possibility,_

_""S,Sonic?" The golden one turned to face her for a second, the rain hissing and steaming as it evaporated the second it touched his body._

_"Please Ames"; it was his voice, but deeper, full of power, "this is Super Sonic; do me a favour will ya?" She nodded, about the only response she could muster; grinning more widely now, the golden hedgehog's arms blurred and she felt several soft impacts on her front. Instinctively, her arms moved up to cushion them and heard a clink as the newly christened Super Sonic's voice filled her ears like liquid honey once more,_

_"Look after them for me; all right tall, terrible and torrential, let's rumble". With a streak of gold, he was gone; Amy followed him for a second before dropping her gaze to the nestled Chaos emeralds now in her arms._

The being felt the thrill of discovery; the others, the ones precious to it, the cousins of the red, the red that was it's by right; it knew what they were, what the host knew of them. _The Chaos emeralds! Of course, the name gifted to them by irony, the joke of ages past. This is interesting; at least one of the host's allies can tap into the energy, much as I could…I still can!_ Amy snapped her eyes open at the temporary controller seized the moment and its chance; the mist within itself had parted and revealed the way by which its true glory could be recaptured. It needed its anima, the very essence of its power, the nucleus of itself; the power of Chaos.

Throwing off the covers, the being felt the host's pulse quicken and the characteristic lightness of breath that signified a rush of the natural chemical called adrenaline. _Produced in times of stress; this molecule has many effects on the internal homeostasis that promote the host to accept a flight or fight response. At the moment, however, it is a distraction; it's making it difficult to access the host's memory. I need to know – where are they? Where are my lost little ones?_ As the adrenaline and other natural responses to such a start diminished, the being retook its place in Amy's memories, sifting them frantically but still carefully; if anything the need for caution had doubled as one tiny, little mistake now could be the end of it all, with the goal in sight. A second later, the goal actually was in sight:

_Amy stood in front of the Master Emerald..._

_The hated green, and the echidna is here also; the crescent moon smile_; Amy snarled as her body's puppeteer felt the raging flames of anger beat against its cold logic as it saw the echidna Knuckles stood in front of its nemesis. _Finally, I see him for what he truly is – my enemy_; to its surprise, as this recognition clicked into place the being felt, not the hatred, not the anger or the cold, implacable desire to crush the upstart beneath its heel, but instead profound melancholy. _I have seen the world through different eyes_; the being understood its reasons for such a feeling, even if it knew it could never act on them directly;_ just as I have affected the host, so the host had affected me; I know and have remembered parts of me that were entombed long before my imprisonment. Why were my emotions lost – I forgot them, but why? Does this green hold a reason?_

…_She watched on, a smile on her face as she saw the echidna gently put something down on a pedestal, off to the left of the great green stone. Knuckles blocked her view, but all the same she trusted him enough to get it right and neutralise this menace…_

_What is the threat? Wait, he moves and…by the spirits!_

A few seconds later, one of the guestrooms of Haven was empty; with a beat of running feet Amy Rose ran, under the guise of her remorseless master and its new, driving purpose. She paused just long enough to slip her dress over her head and her shoes onto her feet and then she was gone, unburdened by the weighty hammer she normally carried and eating up the ground; the being knew the way it needed to go, and that time was of the essence; _the wisdom of mastering even the most complex of host movements is shown here; if sprinting had not been known, it is highly unlikely I could make the distance with the time remaining before the host reawakens._

"Ah, ah, ah", Spectre hid his sadistic smile behind a façade of parental care as Athair looked up like a puppy that's just had its favourite toy kicked under the sofa, "two E's I believe; that's another line to copy out again". This was too much even for someone as normally flexible as Athair; the flying third-father buried his head in his arms and howled brokenly – he'd been here nearly two and a half hours and so far he'd not even got through the first page. He just couldn't go on any more,

"Please, fourth-father", his shoulders shook with convulsing sobs, causing even Spectre to feel a twinge of pity in his chilly heart, "I can't do any more; I'll take the jacket, lock my training room up, anything but this". _Well_; the black-furred echidna rubbed his chin and gave a twisted smile; _I suppose, compared to some of his other stunts that was fairly minor, but in front of the guests as well as our own – I think a compromise is in order._

"Very well fourth-son", Athair's head shot up, hope guttering in his eyes as Spectre nodded, "maybe I was a little harsh in this punishment", the hope flared up higher, just as Spectre gripped and squashed a little part of it in a frozen hand, "so I shall make a deal with you; finish the page, numbers only, and we'll call it a night. However", he leant forwards, red eyes burning, "play me up like that again and I will have you chained to this desk until you've copied the whole thing out, word for word. Got it?"

"Impeccably fourth-father"; _soon, freedom from this madness_; the boredom had worn Athair down, but finally there was a light at the end of the tunnel of tedium. Scribbling furiously, Athair made haste to finish his task; however, neither he nor Spectre could possibly guess that, in the grand scheme of things, they were both too late.

There was a rattle as the elevator rose from the subterranean home of the guardians; Amy was stood at the exact centre of the rising platform, her eyes shut as the being swiftly filtered out the route she had taken not eight hours ago. It finished just as the lift ended its upwards journey. Still sleeping, unknowing of the actions her limbs were being forced to undergo, Amy reached forwards and pressed the button, causing the lift to descend once more as she raced off the platform before it could take her with it. _This minimises the risk of discovery; if my suspicions are correct, and they must be, they simply must be! When they are proven, I shall need such crude devices no longer._ Satisfied that the lift was safely away, Amy's commander had its host spin on her heel and run headlong into the cold blanket of night.

It was possibly only because she had previously chased after the fastest thing on the planet that no-one truly recognised Amy's speed in its own right. She was, in a straight-out race, faster than Knuckles and probably Tails as well. Also, and possibly more importantly, she had another endearing characteristic the being could now exploit; her incredible endurance and persistence in the face of adversity. Amy Rose had never given up on anything in her life, however hard it may have been, and some of this exposure to hardship had conditioned both her body and her mind. The physical aspect was reflected in the way the strain of the full-out run the being was undertaking wasn't becoming apparent as more than an acceptable twinge in her calves, while the being was both comforted and reinforced by the pink hedgehog's relentless and never-say-die attitude to any problem. _This represents something of a conundrum_; while the host ran and in between providing mental directions totcontrol the headlong rush, the being had a scant amount of time to recognise the nature of the host it was co-existing with; _She is capable of great emotion and most of the people she has contact with respect if not like her, but, at the same time she is uncompromising in her attitude – she will do whatever it takes to get the job done. Such a person; I don't recall ever meeting anyone of this standard before._ The being tried to consider what this may translate into in the future but swiftly abandoned the attempt; it was simply impossible to predict the next stage of the game with so many variables still present. A seemingly random thought from the being, brought about by a casual glance at what was occupying the host psyche while the being had control, caused Amy's face to crease into a smile and a slight chuckle to escape her lips. _Though he either doesn't know or doesn't accept it, the Sonic hedgehog is a lucky Mobian._

The run lasted for a greater portion of the night; as the first objective hove into view, the being dropped the host's arms to massage the tops of her thighs; the muscles were starting to ache abominably as the remorseless pace took its toll on even Amy's constitution. Glancing around and clearing the host's memories, the being saw the way next and, after recovering some breath, took off once more. _The way is no longer barred_; the being drowned the pain now screaming from the host's legs with the sheer promise in that thought; within the next half hour at the most extreme estimate, it would know, it would be great again.

_In the chamber of my enemy lies my salvation_; the being beheld the shrine of the Master Emerald with a snarl on the face of its host. If the host memories were correct, one of the Chaos Emeralds, the first of the lost ones that must be reunited with the red, lay neutered and helpless in the bale gaze of the hateful green. There was no other course of action open; with a determined glare, face set in an expression of grim defiance and alert expectation, Amy Rose moved forwards, the inscrutable eyes behind her own taking in every nuance and individual line that had gone into the construction of this structure. As the host passed within the arch at the shrine entrance, the being had her pause and straighten a triumphant smile on her lips as it rejoiced. _The same power from before_; imagining the strength from inside being focussed and released as ripples from a cast stone, the being recognised the sensations it had felt on the second night of its release; _so, as I predicted, I am somehow sensitive to the power of these stones, even that of the hated green. Why this one as well as the others; green before red – the significance of that conundrum becomes more apparent. Still, answers await._

Setting her teeth, Amy advance cautiously but quickly towards the nexus of power, the being now more than ever aware that its period of dominance was fleeting as best. As the first faint glow of the green Master Emerald became present, she halted; despite its best efforts and most astute reasoning, the being had to force itself to undergo a tiny experiment before convincing itself it was safe to pass into the presence of the enemy. Slowly, ready to snatch it back at any moment, Amy raised one trembling hand and carefully caught a ray of light on the pink fur of the back of her hand. _As expected_; the being chided itself for too much caution even as it let a hiss of relief seep through Amy's teeth; _I am safe and shielded within the host_. Taking a couple more steps, for the second time in hr life, Amy was subjected to the glare of a supernaturally power energy source; this time however, unlike the first, she was totally unaware of it.

_The lost one!_ Off to the left sat the small red Chaos Emerald, dwarfed by the might of the tyrannical Master. Almost without meaning to the being moved the host to almost within arms-reach of the smaller stone; it stretched forth an arm to take back the glory that was lost to it…

…and paused.

_Is this truly what I want?_

Amy's arm dropped, her brow creasing in concentration as the being wrestled with a previously unknown and uncontemplated theory. _This existence is parasitical, but I am doing no-one any harm as long as I remain in control. The host is unaware of my presence; this is a good state of affairs, but it is still a form of imprisonment_! The fist of the host clenched; was there a logical, scientific solution to this problem; if there was the being couldn't formulate it. _I stand on the threshold of greatness and I baulk from it – why? I fear what I may become and I know, somehow it is known that, should I go through with this, I can never return to this state – a 'one-way ticket' as it were. Should I sacrifice what I have, for the hope of something greater?_ A vision of a simple game of chance flashed up in the beings recollections and it felt an ironic smile twist the host's lips; _gamble or play it safe?_

For a long, long moment she stood there immobile, not seeing a way forwards, paralysed by indecision; it was happy now, but after this run, could that continue? Would it be found out, discovered because it had run so far in a single night, with the host unaware? And would the black one, one of the marked crescent enemies, see through the mental barriers it had put up and reveal the interloper within the mind of the host? Would she react badly? Would the being indirectly caused her harm and worry by discovery? Did the small red stone before it offer a chance to free itself of this semi-imprisonment? Amy buried her head in her hands, the mind overtaking her assailed by a hundred questions and a thousand potential answers; gradually, as time itself marched onwards and threatened more the being directly as the host psyche began to very slowly disengage itself from its dreams, a strake statement took shape in the form of the tormented being's philosophical outlook; _I have no choice._

The being saw no way out; it had come too far, sacrificed too much to be satisfied with no answers; it was driven by a desire to answer the questions it had left and the answer stood before it, contained within a stone the colour of red gore. Slowly, the same arm that had released the being from its prison was extended once more; _this is it; betting everything blind_; the being had the host close its eyes and brace as much as was possible; _I need my answers, and now, I receive them!_ There was a touch, a miniscule contact between the bare fingers of the pink hedgehog's hand and the cool, impassive side of the red Chaos Emerald.

_I am…_

The mistmwithin bhe beina evapor ted as ghough seared by direct sunlight, all the memories of the past flooding back into the denied psyche; the power, the wars, the fracturing, the defeat and retreat.

_I feel…_

Who it was, the name was recalled, the reason for the sadness and the tears. The hated green had come before the red, it had spawned the red; both were mutual enemies, but had worked together in the past. Just as the two who had commanded them had been allies. Before the sundering, the beginning of the end.

_I remember…_

The topch persisted, the memories, every one treasured and nurtured as they came back. The imprisonment; it had been self-inflicted, part of a scheme, to confuse the enemies of the crescento Now, the longtwait was over, the endgame could begin. The plan came back into focus; the being saw what it had formulated and set into motion so many years before.

…_everything!_

A low, dark rumbling; heaay, almost mournful laughter filled the shrine of the Master Emerald; the glory that had been lost was recaptured and, now the final pawns were in place, the long-awaited victory could be heralded. Even as the visions of conquest were taken in, in a tiny, cobwebbed part of the being's ineffable mind, the part that so cherished the idea of remaining hidden was entombed once more, a silent tear sliding unnoticed as its final chance was lost; in the grip of chaos once more, the being had no more choice over its destiny – it was, as its foes had christened it, chaos in flesh once more. The passing of such feeble emotion passed mostly unnoticed by the vast majority of the rejuvenated being; the fractured one had seen what should be, and saw that it was good.

_I will require a store of this power, but the host is ill-suited to such energies – she lacks the power of the Sonic hedgehog. No matter_; commanding the host to pick up and hold the red chaos emerald, the being set to work; using the power it had had a hand in crafting so long ago, it began to warp and change its host at the most basic level possible. To the casual observer, it appeared that a red glow had spread up the hedgehog's arm to encase her whole body, making it look like she was a ruddy red beacon in the night, warring with the glow of the Master. Slowly, as the changes the being had forged took effect gradually, the glow faded, seeming to sink into Amy's skin and being contained within. _A reservoir of power is assured; no more shall I be such a shallow wraith of myself again. Now, all is in place, save the host itself._ With a devious smile, so uncharacteristic on Amy's normal, smiling face, she stood up tall and replaced the red emerald on the pedestal, whispering an apology for leaving it so harnessed, if only for a little while.

A red glow filled the interior of the Master Emersld shrine and just as suddenly it was gone, leaving only the lightening darkness of the new dawn and a dim, green light.

_All is in place_; the being set itself down on the host's bed for the night after casually replacing the host's clothing on the chair in the corner of the room. As it pulled the covers up under the host's chin, it pulled the host's lips up into a smile; _I know my name I remember my past and I know what my purpose is – I need my body back. For that I need more power, and there is only one source that will suffice._

A/N: Any guesses what the source is? Next chapter will be the darkest yet – is there any hope for our favourite pink hedgehog? Will the guardians be able to solve the riddle in time? Who is the being?


	22. Chapter 21 The Final Nightmare

Chapter 21 – The Final Nightmare.

A/N: I have a bit of an apology to make; when I viewed the last chapter on the site I realised just how many mistakes there were in the text – believe me I have no idea how they got there. I think the computer I updated from may have had a virus, but anyway, my apologies for that; I don't like putting up work that's riddled with mistakes. Hopefully this chapter will make it all up to my reviewers; WARNING – it gets dark towards the end and there's some blood, but it does explain a few very important details. Read on, and let the suspense begin, but first…

HHH – Usurper! Be gone from the throne of true power lest I take my mighty chain axe and lay your skull at the feet of Khorne! Blood for the Blood God; skulls for his throne! Time to massacre a few helpless Tau to work out my frustrations of the last bad chapter; right, there they are; get 'em lads (sounds chainsaws powering up, several heavily-booted feet moving at a flat-out sprint followed by maniacal hacking, slashing and other general unpleasantness).

Breakfast in Haven was typically a communal affair; all six echidnas of the Brotherhood rose about the same time and ate in the main chamber at the centre of the bunker complex. This routine had been slightly complicated with the extra people, but still continued in the time honoured fashion; occasionally one of the brunching Brotherhood would stand and leave the table for a few minutes, only to return a couple of minutes later with someone else in tow. It was only as Locke stood up and began to clear away some of the used plates and dishes that Tails noticed the obvious omission from this scenario,

"Hey, where's Amy?" There was a general glancing around as the others realised the absentee in their midst and voiced some suggestions,

"She could still be in bed?"

"Nah", Sonic quashed that suggestion from Thunderhawk, slight concern on his face as he remembered the events of a week ago and smiled, "not like her to sleep in; remember the Boxing Day Bash – she was ill that day and still up before us three", he indicated Knuckles and Shadow as Spectre, having had his eyes closed for the past couple of seconds, peered around owlishly,

"Unusually, it appears my son is correct; she's in her room. Sojourner, would you mind going to rouse her; no-one should miss their breakfast, however pleasant the dream".

"The most important meal of the day", Cream piped up, smiling as the black echidna raised an eyebrow in her direction, "that's what my mum always tells me". Spectre smiled back at the rabbit girl as he considered her words,

"Then your mother is a very wise woman". Knuckles heard a whisper in his ear,

"The only thing more important then eating breakfast; avoiding eating it when Athair's made it" the echidna spluttered into his drink and whispered back to his girlfriend,

"Well he tried at least", he glanced over to where his third-father was resolutely chowing down on a plateful of pancakes, "think he's a bit down today?"

"Yeah I noticed that", the bat glanced over at the seemingly earth-bound Athair with something resembling concern, "any idea what could have caused him to act serious?" Any thoughts Knuckles wanted to voice were disturbed in a sea of bright green as Sojourner, having fastidiously wiped his hands and lips on a napkin, activated his emerald gift and made to round up the errant guest.

XXX

The gossamer thin veneer of sleep was broken asunder by a loud, sharp knocking noise; Amy blinked her eyes open, shook her head a second and then, after remembering a few little details, such as the newly emerged Echidna city and Knuckles' new family of former and at least partially insane guardians, realised she was in Haven and someone must have been knocking on her door. She made to reply to the knocker, but in order to do so she had to twist her body around to face the door; this manoeuvre forced her to sharply extend her legs downwards from her foetal position. This, as she rapidly found out, was a mistake.

XXX

Sojourner heard the sounds of movement from inside and drew his fist back to knock again; the blow was halted in mid-strike as a strangled yell of pain echoed through the door. The echidna's eyes widened in a momentary panic; _it wouldn't do for a visitor of Haven to fall ill_; before his normal mask of logic and coolness under pressure slipped back into its proper place and purged the startled emotions from his thoughts. Taking a couple of test breaths, he called through the door,

"Are you all right in there?" There were a couple of hisses of pain before a reply could be heard,

"Er, yeah; ah geez, that was sore".

"What was?" His hand gripped the doorknob and the echidna silently thanked his grandfather's strategy of not having any of the bedroom doors fitted with locks in case there was an accident inside; this allowed the Brotherhood to get into any room in Haven and clear any difficulty with minimum fuss. _Perfect time to put that into practise_;

"May I come in?" There was a shuffling of what he assumed to be blankets and then he heard the female hedgehog reply shakily,

"Umm, sure".

XXX

Amy watched the door swing slowly open as she tried to fight down the stabbing pain in both her legs. Stretching them out first thing had felt like twin bolts of lightning had earthed on her calves and they ached appallingly; why this was she had no idea. As she kept her eyes on the entering echidna, trying to remember which one he was, she gritted her teeth against the fire in her leg muscles as she excruciatingly tried to straighten them again. _Hopeless, can't even get them halfway_; the pain forced her to abandon the attempt in its infancy; _what the heck's done that – feels like I've run a race with Sonic_.

"Are you sure you're fine?" She looked up at the echidna she still couldn't name and dredged a faint smile from somewhere onto her lips as her voice grated,

"Does it show?" She pointed down at the blanket covering her body and tapped on of her knees, "there's something wrong with my leg; feels like I've got a real bad cramp but I don't know how".

"Can you walk?" She looked up incredulously,

"I can't even straighten up", Sojourner was convinced by her pain-wracked features as she tried to force her knees to lower by an extra inch, "feels like someone's dipped me in battery acid". Sojourner regarded the pink hedgehog in front of him and weighed up the situation in an instant; _if Mohammad can't go to the mountain, the mountain must go to Mohammad_.

"I'll get my third-son; he has a way with these kinds of problems", Sojourner turned to leave, masking the smile on his face as he called casually over his shoulder, "don't run anywhere". He slammed the door just in time to cut off the tirade of sarcasm Amy sent lancing his way.

XXX

As she waited for this healer; Sabre if her memory served her right, Amy leant her torso down to get a better look, gingerly peeling back the bottom of her pyjama trousers. _Wow, how the heck did that happen_; her calf, or what little she could see of it, appeared to be so red it was almost glowing in the dim light; it was engorged with blood and she fancied she could see each beat of her heart reflected in the constriction and dilation of the tiny capillaries in the skin of the muscle. She risked a tiny poke and drew in a sharp breath from both the heat her apparently well-used muscle was pumping out and the pain such a movement caused in such a sensitised state. Curiosity piqued, she looked at the same area of her other leg; exactly the same looks and tenderness; _it looks like I've been running, but I didn't go for a jog at any time yesterday, unless…_ Her head sank on her knees in both embarrassment and concern; she could remember the dreams she'd had last night and memories of a specific blue hedgehog had featured very prominently. _So, from what I can tell_; Amy hid both a smile and a blush as the irony of the situation wasn't lost on her;_ my mind dreamed I was keeping up with Sonic and, by the looks of things my body actually was – sleep sprinting!_

She'd managed to coax a few sparks of life back into the lower part of her right leg and grit her teeth against the massive onset of pins and needles such reawakening had caused when a second knock at the door caused her to pause a second.

"Come in". She carried on gently squeezing the tender flesh of her cramping limbs as the door breezed open and, as she expected, the spurred echidna she'd talked to yesterday entered, sizing her up professionally as he stepped forwards and smiled; _rule number one of medical practise, get the patient comfortable in your presence_.

"So, what seems to be the problem?"

"Apparently", Amy looked up, motioning for Sabre to take a seat; _I think I can trust him, he's a doctor, but just to be safe_; "this is…"

"Strictly confidential" Sabre finished for her, professionally interested in what could have happened during the night to a Mobian who had been in perfect health the previous evening, "what happens won't leave this room unless you decide to talk about it".

"Good, this could be embarrassing", Amy smiled shyly as Sabre raised an eyebrow; she pointed down to take the attention of her flushing face, "it's my legs; looks like I've been running hard, they're all cramped up and sore, especially the calves. I can hardly straighten them".

"I see", Sabre examined the patches Amy had already revealed for her own scrutiny, "that does look severe but luckily I can deal with something like this", he moved closer to her and gently gripped the hedgehog's lower left calf. Amy tensed, expecting a massive jolt of pain; the sensation of a gentle, searing coolness shocked her almost as much as the phantom pain she'd expected would have. Looking down, she saw the older echidna gently massaging the limb between his soft hands, his cooling healer's touch quenching the burning fires of cramp and rejuvenating her stressed muscle.

"Feel better?"

"Like you wouldn't believe", Amy sat back onto her pillows, relaxing more as the treatment went on, "how'd you do it?"

"Grace of the Master and plenty of practice; I've lost count of the number of times I've had to do the same thing to the others after Thunderhawk's dragged them through a training session. If you're interested I can do a mean foot massage".

"Not now; I think I'd melt if you tried it". Sabre smiled at the reply before biting the bullet and asking the question plaguing him,

"So how could this have happened; any ideas?" He heard a nervous chuckle and looked up to see Amy rolled her eyes upwards and sigh resignedly,

"Well, I'd got a theory but, well, it's a little, you know?"

"Perfectly; I've had my own share of embarrassment in the past before now"; Sabre still couldn't think about the time someone as yet unknown had slipped a rather risqué power point slide into a presentation he'd then delivered to a conference of surgeons without squirming and going puce; _luckily most of them had a sense of humour – if I ever find out who that was I'll make them eat that slide_.

"Okay then, well, I was having a cool dream last night and, well you know Sonic, the blue hedgehog?"

"I've spoken to him before now; he's the really fast one isn't he, or is that the black one, Shady?"

"Shadow, and they're both really fast", Amy corrected him before continuing, "well I used to, race with Sonic a lot, but I was never as fast as him. But anyway, I was dreaming of running with him last night, and I think my body must have joined in with my dreams".

For a second Sabre didn't quite understand what she was getting at; how could you run while asleep? Noticing his evident confusion the pink hedgehog expanded her explanation,

"I've been sleepwalking before now; just the other night I woke up and I think I managed to make and drink a cup of coffee in the night just before getting up again. And a lot of my dreams have been to do with running recently, so I guess I was going to follow them up at some point; check and see if there's a trench around my bed". As he moved over to her other leg Sabre dipped his head down and shook his head,

"No, no evidence of tunnelling here, but what you're saying's a little unusual; it's not unheard of for sufferers to complete minor tasks while sleepwalking, but a cup of coffee and a marathon are new to me", Sabre was compelled to find out as much as he could and get a case background, "what other examples can you remember?"

"Well I did manage to lock myself out my own house before now in the night", even a consummate doctor couldn't help but snigger at that one, "but it's not usually a problem, haven't done it for months before these two episodes. My dreams have been a little strange though; I've been running, like I said, but I was always headed towards a red light", something tingled the back of Amy's mind, probably the way Sabre's brow creased at the news, and she was compelled to add, "it looked like a sunrise; maybe I was desperate to wake up?"

"Maybe", finishing his work, the doctor stood up and gave his patient a thumbs-up, "there, I think that should do it; if anything else crops up have a glass of water and call me in the morning. Now, about that sleepwalking, that could be a problem; ah, I know"."What?"

"Don't worry, leave it to me. Now, follow me; we best get you to breakfast and see what Thunderhawk's been good enough to leave you". The pink hedgehog swung her newly healed legs out of bed and stood up, marvelling at the bounce and springiness of the limbs as she rolled onto the ball of her toes and rocked to her heels, testing the effectiveness of Sabre's cure and finding it absolutely flawless.

"Big eater is he?"

"Big eater – try bottomless pit", Sabre headed for the door, motioning for Amy to get dressed as he'd wait outside and escort her to dine when she was ready. As he walked, Sabre mulled over what he'd just heard; _running in your sleep – possible, but if that's the case how'd she get back to bed intact, unless she ran in the room itself. But if so, why is nothing disturbed – it's a small room and something should have been knocked over if she was going that fast. Dreams of sprinting towards a sunrise, more Athair's field than mine_. Though according to his medical knowledge Sabre had all the bases covered, the guardian couldn't help but think there was slightly more to this than he was seeing; it was faint, but a small worm of concern began nibbling at the surgeon, a small worry that he couldn't quite purge, no matter how hard he thought or reasoned it through in his head.

_A narrowly avoided hazard_; the being watched on as the host prepared for the day ahead;_ my enemies must not be given any information at all; all I require is one more night and then I'll be free from this host and my own master once more. A shame I couldn't discover what the guardian was planning; I could have used such precautions for my own ends; to turn an enemy's strength against him._ As Amy followed and bantered with Sabre, the being schemed and put the finishing touches to his plan; the carefully husbanded power of the red emerald was stored invisibly within the body of the host, to be used when the time was right. _I must ensure the circumstances warrant a reaction of that magnitude; this will be the main challenge._

XXX

A short while later, as the dishes from the now almost brunch were being cleared away, Spectre disentangled himself from the milling press and managed to corner his fifth-son; Sabre saw him coming and made ready with his typical balancing act; he had to give his fifth-father the information he needed without breaching confidentiality. As always, Spectre took the lead,

"So fifth-son, what was the problem with young Amy?" Closing his eyes and taking a second to order his thoughts, Sabre pursed his lips and began to answer,

"Well, it appears to be a fairly minor problem, but I reckon she should go easy for the rest of the day. I also think it happened in the night, so maybe one of us should stay up rather later than normal?" Spectre knew better than to expect more, but he trusted the younger echidna's judgement in medical matters implicitly; after digesting the diagnosis as much as he could, a sly smile appeared on Spectre's face – Sabre instinctively backed off at this rare and frankly frightening occurrence.

"That shouldn't cause to much hassle; I wanted to do those three that call themselves the Chaotix anyway; if I have time after that I'll try the black hedgehog Shadow; now that should be interesting", the eldest guardian brightened for a second and looked at his descendent anew, "maybe you should talk to him; apparently he suffers from amnesia".

"Not exactly my speciality, but I can give it a go" Sabre admitted before asking the question he dreaded the answer to, "so what will you do about Amy?" The younger echidna was nervous, there was not disguising that fact, so the answer of,

"Leave it with me", did nothing to reassure his state of mind.

XXX

"So this is where you've been all this time?" Vector glanced over at the voice, just managing to glimpse a foggy silhouette through the steam of the sauna; as he squinted, the crocodile just managed to hold in a groan as he realised the silhouette was hovering a couple of feet above the ground and he couldn't hear any wings beating.

"Yeah, you know what the cold does to reptiles' right?" Athair wafted away some of the steam and moved further into the interior of the small hot box, noticing the fact this water was playing merry hell with the jauntily coloured bangles that covered his plain brown spines. He also tried to remember what he'd read about reptiles from grandfather Spectre's library; as he did so, he started in alarm,

"Wait a second, shouldn't you be hibernating?" The crocodile let out a laugh as Espio showed himself and glared at the echidna for disturbing his relaxation,

"If I could hibernate I would; unfortunately with Charmy around even a decent night's sleep's a bit of a challenge; now, was there something you wanted?"

"Oh yes", the flying echidna's eyes widened alarmingly as he crossed his hands over his heart, "I want to teach everyone how to fly, I want to see all the stars, I want to…" Vector decided to step in to both speed things up a little and prevent his cantankerous team mate introducing Athair to a couple of stars he probably hadn't counted on seeing.

"What we meant was did you just come her to hang with us, or was there another reason?"

"Oh I see, well", Athair looked at them both explanatorily, "I could always see, but now I see what you see, see?" _Come back_ _Charmy, all is forgiven_; Vector forced himself to think of happy things and count backwards from a million in threes, anything to keep his clenched fists from clenching themselves around the ancient echidna's throat.

"I, I can see that", _please Lord give me strength in the face of adversity, hardship and insanity_; "so what did you want?"

"I don't want anything, but", that small words of three letters was probably all that saved Athair from being clobbered by two irate lizards, "grandfather Spectre does".

"Oh, the mind guy", Vector glanced at his chameleon friend, noticing him slide his stars away with mingled relief and disappointment, "my turn is it?"

"Where are you turning to this time", the flying echidna darted forwards and stopped about an inch from the crocodile's snout, "oh, oh, are you going to turn into someone? Is this a magic trick?" Scrunching his face shut and baring his teeth in a strained grin, the unofficial leader of the Chaotix leant forwards and spoke softly, every word dripping with enough menace to send a grizzly bear fleeing in abject terror,

"No, I'm not turning into anything"; _calm blue ocean, I do like this person really – leaving him as a mess would be a really bad idea_; it was as his resistance was at its weakest that Espio took a hand in the proceedings,

"You know Athair", the echidna glanced over as Vector muttered a soothing mantra under his breath, "Vector is a bit of a magician"; _forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us – except Espio, who should know better and will be promptly pounded as soon as is feasibly possible_; "he can breathe fire".

"Really?" Athair didn't budge an inch as his face was wreathed in child-like delight, "showmemshowmeshowme?" _Thou shalt not – he did ask for it – he is a host and to be treated with respect…_ "pleeeeeaaaasssseee?" _…ah, forget it!_

XXX

He took another deep sniff of the air, concern and confusion creasing his brow almost as soon as panic flared up in his heart; it smelt like something was burning. All the knowledge, all the wisdom of the Brotherhood's library could be lost in an instant. Spectre quickened his pace; thankfully the years hadn't robbed his nose of keen scent and the he was able to track down the source of the crisp, acrid tang of scorched parchment and…hair? _What the…?_; it was as he saw the two reptiles at the door of his private sanctuary and realised the echidna hovering behind them seemed to be lacking eyebrows and had a face-full of soot that he realised it was probably safer not to ask. They hadn't seen him in the darkness and as he composed himself he blessed the darkness of his robes for avoiding their scrutiny.

"Welcome guests", the larger crocodile started a little at the unexpected voice, though the other one didn't even flinch as far as Spectre could tell; the black echidna clapped once and closed his eyes, letting the light in the room come on and his retinas adapt as the light filtered through, speaking as they did so, "please, come in; fourth-son, you may go". He heard Athair's hurried goodbye as the aerial menace left; his descendent was gone as his sight cleared once more. When he had assured himself that Athair was out of earshot, Spectre crossed his arms and frowned severely,

"Right, who tried to immolate my fourth-son, and why?"

It was the voice of a parent, a schoolteacher and a manager all in one; irresistible and leaving no-one, even people as normally cool and self-assured as Vector and Espio in no doubt that they were in the presence of the master. The hulking crocodile lowered his eyes meekly and mumbled something about losing his temper and demonstrating how he could breathe fire; unfortunately, Athair happened to be floating just a mite too close. Spectre listened stony-faced as the tale concluded and then tapped his finger-tips together,

"Right, do you think it worked?" Espio gave a casual shrug,

"Well he led us straight here afterwards and didn't say a thing on the way".

"In that case; fire-breathing, have to remember that one", noticing the pair of incredulous gazes the eldest guardian gave a gruff chuckle, "trust me, collectively we've tried nearly everything under the sun to get a little bit of peace from time to time, but as far as I can tell none of us have ever sprayed Athair with flaming death then quickly beaten it out; we may have thought about it, but we've never done it". Vector raised the reptilian equivalent of an inquisitive eyebrow,

"He can get worse than that?"

"You have no idea". Unable to determine whether or not the black echidna was joking, both crocodile and chameleon shared a glance and shuddered.

XXX

Thunderhawk shifted his grip on the staff he held, speaking clearly as he instructed his new pupil,

"Right, now as we practiced", he swung the instrument upwards, speaking as he did so and ignoring the jarring impact in his wrists as the slowed attacked was parried, "up, up, middle, up, down, up, middle, middle, swing, down and jab; good" the lavender echidna nodded proudly as Amy casually grounded her hammer head and smiled at her impromptu teacher. Thunderhawk had rescued the pink hedgehog from the laundry room and, after a few minutes talking, had managed to discover what the Piko Piko hammer actually was. Seeing the oversized mallet had brought back some memories; with Amy's permission, he'd blown the dust off his old bo staff and was currently teaching her some of the old katas he'd learned decades ago. _As if we'd never been apart_; the sixth-father looked up at the old polished wood fondly, the light from the roof of his training area gleaming dully from the smooth mahogany. As Amy readied herself again, thinking about the movements she'd just completed, Thunderhawk licked his lips and tapped the end of his staff against the grounded head of Amy's hammer,

"Not that I've got anything against hammers as such, but why is it pink, and why does it have those little hearts all over it?"

_Good question; forgot to look that up last time I had the chance._

"It's always been that way", the other fighter assured him, smiling as she hefted it effortlessly and held it in the ready position, "when I swing it properly, some of the hearts can come loose and fly at whatever I want to hit; they won't hurt anything, but they can put people off", she gestured at the end of his staff before continuing, "I got the idea from an old book about stick fighters; apparently in olden times they'd put loose bags of salt or chalk dust on the ends of their staffs; if they hit an enemy, the dust would fly out and blind their opponent". _Neat trick_; the ingenuity behind the seemingly gaudy decorations of the pink hammer surprised the veteran warrior and he let out a low whistle,

"Sounds like my dad were right; the past can teach you many things if you know how to look for them. Now", his eyes flicked to the clock on the wall, "it's getting on for mid-afternoon; what say we take a bit of a breather?"

"One last go first; I think I'm starting to get the hang of this now".

"Okay, then we'll head past he lab to pick up my fifth-son and the fox; is he your brother or the blue hedgehog's?" The thought of being related to Tails made Amy smile; as far as she could tell there was only one way that could possibly happen, and even then it wouldn't be technically legal.

"Nah, Tails is Sonic's little brother; they've been around each other so long they're just like family now". Thunderhawk let out a low chuckle an casually span his staff to mirror Amy's movement, speaking quickly even as he planned the movements in his mind,

"And what was all that bumf about not being able to choose your family?"

"Tell me about it; now!" There was a rattling of wood on wood as the two shifted footing in a dance as ancient as the hill that Haven had been carved in.

XXX

"Hand me the screwdriver, crosshead".

"Sure, need any extra screws?"

"No, but can you just check the thirty Ohm resistors will be enough; I've got a suspicion we may need fifties". Tails span in his seat and tapped a few keys on the console next to him, running the simulation over in the virtual circuit programme; the sight and sound of several components suddenly exploding in bright colours with impressive amounts of virtual smoke confirmed that Locke had been right on that count.

"Yep, thirties'll blow out; just running it through with fifties now", the foxboy made the necessary adjustments on the screen in front of him and tapped a few more keys, "sorted, that'll hold it; good spotting that echidna". Locke let a cool smile onto his face as he reached for the soldering iron,

"Ease of long practice; now, how are you getting on with the plans for the cases of these things, and the transmitter/receiver array?" Tails reached for a nearby sketch-pad and indicated some of the drawings he'd jotted down.

"Well, since we're going through earth to get to Haven, we're going to have to use something stronger than radio-waves; luckily we're not planning on going through the atmosphere; we're not quite that high up so I reckon we could get away with microwaves. All we'll need is something like a satellite dish to receive, it's just the transmission I've having a problem with".

"Umm, Tails", the fox glanced over to see Locke twirling the hem of his lab coat around one finger, face embarrassed as he mumbled, "what's a satellite, and what's a dish got to do with it?"

Tails blinked, forgetting for a second that Locke and his entire species had probably never needed satellite technology as they all lived within approximately three hundred square miles of each other, barring one obvious and very important exception. As he realised his colleague for the moment was waiting for an explanation, he cleared his thoughts and tried to explain clearly what satellites were.

"Right, well satellites are big, er, devices that are blasted off into space, and they sit above the Earth, in orbit. They just, reflect and sort out signals beamed up from Earth and transmit these signals to other areas; it's one of the best ways to contact someone who's in, for example, another country, because it's quick. A satellite dish is the receiver unit for signals transmitted from satellites". _So much I don't know_; Locke bit back a sigh of exasperation – in this new world he and his family found themselves in, it was he who was the student and this strange new Mobian who was the teacher.

"Right, well we'll discuss that more when we've sorted out the…", he was interrupted by a timely knock at the door to his lab, "…sorted out the interior and I've dealt with this". Tails watched on as Locke crossed the floor of his lab effortlessly and opened the door; after watching for a second he waved at Amy at the same time as listening to the conversation taking place between Locke and Thunderhawk; he could easily remember that one due to the different fur colours.

"Coming then; you know what's on in a bit".

"Oh yeah, I forgot they'd rescheduled that one", Locke turned and called over to Tails, "Hawk and your friend are having a bite to eat; they want to know if we'll join them". The fox stepped onto the ground from his seat and sauntered over, realising it was actually a fair bit later than he had anticipated; _time flies when you're having fun._

"Sure thing, let's go; are we going to get pancakes again, those were divine".

"Only if you can con Sojourner into cooking again; he makes them when he has a mind to"; Amy watched as Tails' namesakes drooped a little, as they always did when he was put out by anything, and she reached over and tousled the fur between his ears,

"No worries TT, I can do pancakes too; you like them with honey and chocolate chips if I remember rightly?"

"That you do", Tails licked his lips in anticipation as Amy smiled and remembered the recipe in her mind, unaware that, even as she accessed her own thoughts, something, or as he now knew someone, was now examining his own course of action and puzzling over the best way to get the correct reaction from his pawns.

XXX

_So I am certain_; Spectre filtered his consciousness back into his own body once more and slowly breathed in time to his own heart beat, reassuring himself of the conclusions he'd made in his own mind. He stood up stiffly from his cross-legged position, wincing as his knees clicked in protest at this movement, running the memories from the two lizards through in his head once more.

_Vector, though he wonders at the value of such a jewel, he recognises that the Master is more than just a simple gem. He recognises that it is all that keeps the island in the air, and, even more so now that he realises there are more echidnas on his island, the idea of taking the Master, and therefore placing all those lives in potential jeopardy, is not in his nature; if anything, he'd fight to stop such an occurrence happening, though_; Spectre smiled in isolation as the age-old truth of money talks made itself plain in his sight; _he would probably fight harder if he thought he'd be getting some sort of fiscal rewards for doing so._ That Spectre didn't have a problem with – the heart of the matter was that the large green crocodile was of no threat to the Master. A slight frown of concern creased the ancient echidna's lips as he considered the other one, Espio; unlike his larger friend, it had taken a lot more convincing to assure the chameleon that Spectre wouldn't or couldn't pry into areas he wasn't welcome into. After just a few seconds merged with the chameleon's mind, Spectre had seen why Espio had been so reluctant to agree with this method of assuring his trustworthiness.

_His mind is very well ordered, but jealously, almost fanatically guarded; I feel there are some areas even he does not visit very often. Still, the information I required could be accessed easily enough; he is no threat to the Master simply because his philosophy does not place great value on physical matters;_ Spectre had had trouble coming to terms with that method of thinking – Espio, if he was reading this right, could have been given a free chance to snatch the Master and would have turned it down because, to him, it wasn't important enough to warrant the disruption that carting around and hiding such a massive gem would have entailed. _He believes that mastery of the psyche, and most importantly, the emotions, surpasses the need for physical comforts – an interesting idea, but not one I am sure is feasible – can you master your emotions totally?_ As he pondered the question and mentally reached out for his fourth-son, Spectre unconsciously drew faint but tangible similarities between the enigmatic Espio and his own grandson; _the difference is, I know what caused Sojourner to strive to crush his own emotions, but why does Espio seek the same goal?_

XXX

A few moments later, Spectre was stood at the door of his library, awaiting his fourth-son's response to his mental impulse; if nothing else Athair was in a better position to tackle the problem of locating and rounding up the next guest Spectre wished to work with due to his as yet unadmitted gift of flight. As he let his senses detect what was approaching him, Spectre was mildly surprised to find that one of the guests was already following his maddening relative. _Impressive_; Spectre was forced to give credit where it was due; _I don't recall telling him the one I wanted – if he figured it out I'll be amazed_. Interested by this development, Spectre watched on down the corridor Athair would approach from, listening for him; he didn't have long to wait,

"I'm going to win!"

"No you're not", Spectre shook his head as he realised that Athair hadn't managed to defy the odds by bringing the one he needed to him, "I'm faster over short sprints!"

There was a flurry of light wing beats from around the corner and a couple of seconds later the airborne form of Cream belted around the corner, the rabbit skilfully conserving speed by running along the wall rather than slowing down to take the corner completely in the air. The black echidna smiled despite himself; that was one of Athair's oldest tricks and from the looks of things he'd been teaching recently. At that precise moment, Cream seemed to notice the stationary form in front of her and slammed on the brakes just as Athair himself shot around the corner, tasselled spines streaming behind him like a solidified rainbow. The rabbit dropped to the floor and stumbled to a halt just in front of Spectre, smiling up at him,

"Hello Mr Spectre". Once more, he felt himself swayed by the manner in which she addressed him with what he considered to be the proper respect he was due; _what I wouldn't give for my sons to do the same…_

"Good afternoon Miss Rabbit", much as he enjoyed Cream's company, Spectre really needed to talk to Athair privately, and not just about the matter of him finding Charmy, "forgive me, but could you excuse my fourth-son and I for a few moments?"

"Of course", Cream gave a polite bob of her head and, assuring Athair that she'd wouldn't go too far, she vanished around the next corner as the flying echidna waved after her.

"Athair?" He broke off his watching and hovered over to float in front of Spectre, swimming around his fourth-father's head as Spectre simply spoke,

"I need you to find the last member of the Chaotix, Charmy Bee. Can you do that for me?"

"Sure thing fourth-father"; Athair began to scan Haven, looking for his next target before a tap on the leg broke his concentration; glancing back down, the flying echidna's brow furrowed as he saw Spectre beckon for him to come closer. He dropped his altitude, leaning in close as the black echidna whispered to him,

"There's something else I wanted you to do; I need you to, stay up, a bit later than you would usually, don't ask why", Spectre cut off the questions Athair was on the verge of asking out of respect for Sabre's wish for confidentiality, "you can go to bed at about midnight, that should be enough. Do this for me and", he straightened up, adjusting his helmet importantly, "we'll call it quits; the fiasco in the entrance and all, forgotten. How's that for a deal?" Athair, face alight with relief as he realised once Spectre promised to bury something he couldn't dredge it up again to punish him in the future, grabbed his fourth-father's arm and pumped it up and down enthusiastically until spectre's teeth rattled together in his skull,

"Surethingfourth-father", he let go, much to Spectre's relief, and turned to take off, zooming down the hallway, calling for Charmy as he continued his headlong rush. A few moments after he'd gone, Cream peeped her head around the corner again,

"Okay to come back now?"

"Yes, it's all sorted now", Cream nodded and headed towards the black guardian; it was as she approached this second time that Spectre noticed her gloves were blotchy and stained with what looked like paint of some kind. Pointing at the colours and remembering she'd been with Athair not so long ago, Spectre felt a reluctant smile tug at his lips as he sighed and had to ask,

"What have you been up to recently, and what's that on your glove?"

"Oh, Mr Athair's been teaching me how to dye clothes; he said I've done alright and he found some old clothes to practise on. He says I'm pretty good, but apparently I'm not imaginative enough for someone my age". Spectre chuckled as he reached down and lifted her face gently by the chin,

"Believe me child, it matters not if you're nine years old or nine hundred; I don't think it's possible to be as imaginative as Athair".

XXX

"Hey Ames", the pink hedgehog glanced down the adjacent tunnel at Sonic's voice; the blue hedgehog came to a halt and fell into step alongside her, talking casually, "so, you feeling all right now?" Suspicion flared in her mind as Amy quickly answered,

"What, how did you know I wasn't feeling well this morning?"

"You just told me", Sonic smiled as Amy blushed lightly, realised what a giveaway that one had been; the smile dropped from his face a second later as he moved a little closer to her and lowered his voice slightly, "but the face Sabre had to go and see you got me a bit worried; I remembered he was the doctor of the group and I naturally assumed the worst". Amy considered the reasoning and decided honest was the best policy,

"Fair enough and no, it wasn't anything severe", _hold the phone!_; Amy suddenly ran the last sentence through her head and one obvious connection jumped out at her, "wait, you were worried? About me?"

_Ah, I did say that didn't I?_ Sonic gave a tiny shudder as he realised he hadn't really meant to give that away; _now what – just say the truth; you were worried about her – as a friend – the whole truth!;_ Sonic took a deep breath and looked over, a warm, if somewhat worried, smile on his lips as he placed his closest hand gently on her closest shoulder.

"Well, yeah, of course I was worried; Amy, after all we've been through together, don't you think I'd get a little nervous if you had to go to the doctor? Or, in this case, if the doctor had to go to you?", Amy felt her heart start to race; was Sonic really saying these things to her?

"So"; _I can't believe this is happening, not to me_; she cleared her throat and tried again, "so, you…?" Sonic cut her off with a sigh and a second smile, though this one was tinged with a little reproach,

"Amy", steeling his courage, Sonic slowly moved his hand from her shoulder, circling it carefully around her shoulders and softly holding her closer, "of course I, I care about you"; _not quite, but I guess it's a start – one step at a time – hah, since when have you gone one step without following it up with a dozen more? – since, like, now_.

Words failed both of them; Sonic was silent as he felt that special warmth seep into his body, just as it had at Christmas when his gift, still twinkling merrily in her ear now, had helped make her happy; he drank deep from that fountain of heat and it invigorated him. He felt one of her arms flick up just under his shoulder blades and return his gentle hold; in that sweet embrace, Sonic Hedgehog and Amy Rose knew contentment.

_So_; the being filtered the stimuli the host was being exposed to and, more importantly, the emotional response to them; _Amy does truly care for and love Sonic, interesting. Should the need arise, this could make a most compelling bargaining tool. Every avenue must be explored, every angle covered and nothing must be overlooked. My future, and the future of all the echidnas on Angel Island, depends upon the actions of tonight._

XXX

The rest of the day passed mostly without incident; both the Brotherhood and their guests went about their way and caused little trouble, possibly barring the fact that Cream and Athair may have gotten a little too over-enthusiastic with their dyeing, and as a result at dinner there were several raised eyebrows as both rabbit and flying echidna sat down looking like they'd been caught in the radius of an exploding paint factory. Despite this, as the clearing away was being done, Spectre managed to isolate all his descendents bar the youngest and give them the good news,

"So far, all the guests I've seen have been safe with the knowledge", there was a collective exhalation and a cheer from Athair as this was absorbed and the eldest guardian continued, "all I have left to do are Shadow and Amy; she is recovered fully now Sabre?"

"Hmm?" The surgeon looked around, light flashing from his monocle as he realised he was being addressed, "oh, sorry fifth-father; yes, she'd perfectly healthy physically, but", a few dark clouds were visible on the younger echidna's face; despite a lot of time spent thinking about it, he still couldn't shake the idea that there was something there he just hadn't quite seen right.

"But?" Spectre prompted, wondering what could be gnawing at his collected fifth-son and if there was anything he could do to relieve the situation. _Can't say;_ Sabre realised that, despite the offer, telling the others anything would class as a breach of confidentiality and compromise his trust with Amy; he gave a wan smile and shook his head,

"It's probably, or almost certainly, nothing fifth-father". The others knew better than to push the point; despite his normally open mind and manner, Sabre could and did clam up something proper when one of his patients was involved. So the matter was dropped, though in later times, Sabre would have admitted without a second thought that, had he known what his suspicions would lead to, he'd have shouted his ideas from every mountain and to Hell with confidentiality.

XXX

_So close now_; the being fought hard to contain his excitement; the time was near, he could feel it. The sensations of rubbing on the gums and teeth was a sure indication that the host Amy would soon unknowingly hand over control to him; when she did, the final pieces would fall into place and all would be at hand. _Just remain calm for a few more minutes, no more than sixty at the most, and then I can put the plan into action. I can only hope that whatever the one-eyed guardian was planning it won't interfere with my plans too much._

_I can't believe it_; even now, hours after the actual event, Am was still having trouble taking in the fact that Sonic had not only hugged her, but also admitted he'd cared. Her whole body was buzzing and every time she thought about those few precious moments she felt a shiver run down her spine and a triumphant grin bloom on her face. She dressed in the pyjamas she found folded under her pillow and slid under the covers, rubbing a sudden itch that formed at the back of her neck.

_No, control the excitement;_ the being realised he was causing that itch and made a conscious effort to quash the feeling of anticipation reverberating throughout its mind; _they are disturbing the host – she must be comfortable to facilitate the transition from awake to asleep._

It was quickly gone under the attentions of her scratching fingers and she rolled onto her side, breathing deeply as she made to bed down for the night. It was already fairly late but the programme on echidna history that had been showing had been so interesting she'd had to stay up as to not miss the ending. So, it seemed, had Knuckles; the current guardian hadn't taken his eyes off the screen all night, trying desperately to take in as much as was possible about his race and its origins. He'd bidden Amy goodnight and left with Rouge as the programme had ended; Amy had replied, though she'd been sure to leave the bat with a statement of her intent by scratching her left ear and then pointing at her directly, a playful scowl on her lips. As she'd expected, Rouge had replied with a coy act of innocence before retreating with her boyfriend; _I've got to find out a way to get her for that, but_; she fought down a huge yawn and closed her eyes; _I'll deal with that later – right now I want to sleep_.

A couple of minutes later, all that filled the air were snores; a few minutes after that even those were cut off as, for the final time, the being borrowed the body of his host and, once more, took another deep breath.

The being was well aware how delicate the plan it had concocted was; it was all about establishing the balance between sleep and wakefulness. _The reality must appear as a dream, and what occurs will blur the brink of illusion and make the host panic into flight; the husbanded power must then be expended._ With one final check of all the paths open to it, the being realised this was it, the last plan was in place; this final gamble would either pay off, or all would be at an end. So, with a great air of finality, it began its endgame, not with a bang, but with a whisper.

_"Amy, Amy?"_

XXX

_Someone was calling her; her eyes opened, almost of their own accord, though she could see little in the darkness. Her lips moved, but before any meaningful sounds could be made the voice came again,_

_"Shh", she stifled the question, sensing the urgency in the tone used, "there's little time to explain; all you must know is that we must get you out of here. Your capture was an unfortunate accident, but with speed and luck it can be undone". Her eyes rolled upwards, taking in the grey of the ceiling and finally managed to force a question past her lips, though her voice was low to avoid detection,_

_"Who are you?" The unseen presence remained silent for a few minutes before an answer came from the darkness,_

_"I am an ally, but now is not the time for questions; get ready to move out"._

XXX

In the darkness of her room, Amy slowly stood from her bed, her eyes half-closed and gait unsteady as her footsteps were shrouded in silence. Slowly, breathing light and even, she moved slowly over to hold what her ally mentioned to her.

XXX

_"I brought your weapon"; Amy felt her hands close on the comforting weight of her trusty hammer, an anchor in this dark, dingy place of metal and gloom. Swiftly securing the hammer in its normal position, the pink hedgehog glanced around as much as she could, looking for the signs of someone else being here, but all she could see was night._

_"Where are you?"_

_"I'm close by, closer than you might think. Now we must go, quickly before the security breach is discovered". The talk of security and capture set off suspicions in the hedgehog's mind; in a fear hushed voice, she whispered,_

_"Where am I now? Who captured me?"_

_"Eggman"._

XXX

The being congratulated himself for remembering this information; the host would be easier to influence if she was scared and thought herself in real danger. She had been held prisoner by this Eggman in the past, and by painting him as the villain of this piece the being had made his host more likely to accept his words without question. She still wasn't scared enough to run at his suggestion; he needed some extra help for that and he couldn't find it in here. He whispered some more words directly into her unprotected mind.

A few seconds later, Amy opened the door to her room…

XXX

_The barred gate swung open slowly, a slight creak as she squeezed past it hideously loud in her scared, super-sensitive ears. Keeping close to the shadows at the edge of the narrow metal corridor, she moved forwards slowly, mind alive with scenarios of hidden badniks springing out to attack her and drag her back to that tiny holding cell. Following the advice of her guide, she moved through intersections of the corridors, though she knew not where he was leading her._

_"The entrance to this place is far from here", the voice was in her ears once more, causing her to shiver at the suddenness of the sound._

_"How was I caught", the new fear, that of losing memories, burst into her mind as she carried on silently, "I don't remember…"_

_"You won't – Eggman's done something to you, but we don't know what yet; we have to get you out of here before we can worry about that". Amy tried to imagine what could have happened; the possibilities were too many and too dangerous. Quickly, she concentrated on putting one foot in front of another and escaping this captivity._

XXX

_That's strange_; Athair sat up in the chair he'd been reclining in, fighting off tiredness as his emerald senses informed him that one of the guests was apparently moving; slowly and with a great deal of caution it was true, but moving nonetheless. Athair doubted this was safe; in the night it would be too easy for someone to blunder into a room that wasn't safe for them and get hurt. Athair flipped up into the air and ghosted away from his seat, idly wondering if this nocturnal wandering had been what grandfather Spectre had wanted him to stay up and guard against.

XXX

The plan was progressing nicely; the host was scared, but she wasn't yet in a situation of life-or-death running and, because of that, the being couldn't yet use his resources properly. With growing impatience, knowing he was so close to freedom at last, he used a small amount of his carefully hoarded strength to detect what was nearby. After a second of concern and maybe even fear, as well as a curse at the one-eyed guardian for setting up such a precaution, the being gave this new situation a little thought; he could yet turn this setback into a great advantage – all he needed to do was manipulate the host this last time.

XXX

_Amy approached another junction and stopped at the edge of the corridor, preparing for her dash across the open ground to the safety of the shadows on the other side. She mustered her courage, when a single sound from behind her gave her pause for a second. _

_"We have company". The voice of her friend gave her no comfort; she was almost alone the base of a deranged psychopath who had recently captured her. There was no choice in the matter; despite the terror searing at her soul, she slowly turned around to behold her enemy._

XXX

Athair paused, still hovering in the air, sized up the situation in front of him; Amy was standing against the wall up ahead, breathing slowly and raggedly as though scared out of her wits. She appeared to be walking in her sleep; now what did Sabre always say to do in the case of sleepwalkers? The flying echidna pondered for a moment and glanced up; his concern for the pink hedgehog mounted as she slowly revolved to face him and her sleeping expression twisted into a paroxysm of terror.

XXX

_He was in the air, not fifteen feet from her; one of the most proficient killing machines ever created. Small orange flames tufted out of his jet boosters, holding him in place as his pitiless blazing eyes bored into her eyes; nothing within them but pure, unsullied hate and wrath. Light played over the bodywork, illuminating his shining spikes and lethal claws as he remained there, fixated on his prey. Amy felt suddenly very small and most insignificant in the sight of this monster; five-feet six of sleek steel death, a grotesque parody of her beloved.. She was alone, helpless, against a machine without fear, without remorse and utterly lacking the concept of pity._

_Metal Sonic._

XXX

Athair watched on, fear of his own starting to form as the hedgehog girl seemed to shake as her half-shut eyes remained locked on his form. _Right_; dropping to the floor in case his altitude was causing her to panic; _I've got to stay calm and try to calm her down as well_.

"Amy", Athair adapted his most calm, rational voice as he took slow, steady steps forwards and raised his hands, palms outwards, "Amy, it's all right; it's me, Athair. I'm not going to hurt you, I'm here to help". As she appeared to stop shuddering, the flying echidna became slightly more confident that he'd managed to stay her fear.

What he didn't know was that the words he was saying were not the same as the words Amy was hearing; a malevolent power was at work to ensure that wasn't the case and turn Sabre's good intentions to an altogether darker end.

XXX

_Claws, six inches long and razor sharp, flickered on the robotic hedgehog's hands; like a cat toying with a mouse, he approached slowly, letting her feel the fear to its fullest extent. A synthesiser activated and the narrow metal channel echoed with a dire command,_

_"Target acquired; subdue and detain". Amy saw his red eyes flare with unholy vigour and realised with horror that he was planning to push the meaning of the word 'subdue' as far as it could possibly go. She almost fell away, in terror and fear her mind threatened to close down and let her faint, but something came to prevent it; a source of power and strength that whispered cool logic and planning into her mind._

_"Steady now_, _he doesn't know you're armed_"_, the thought of her hammer quelled some of the terror crushing her heart even as pain stalked her, "you must strike hard, fast and first; it's the only way out of this. Wait", Amy drew her hands to grip the handle of her weapon, focussing on her enemy as he closed, coming almost close enough to touch._

_"Neutralising target no…"; it was as he reached forwards, the deadly blades that passed for fingers stretching to claim her, that she swung._

XXX

He was too close; Athair had seen the hedgehog's sleeping face tighten in disgust and rage, but the actual attack was too unexpected, too swift to dodge. He tried to brace, but the impact of that mighty hammer, backed up by all the power in Amy's arms, bludgeoned through any defences he could put up. The ancient guardian felt himself smashed from his feet, thrown against the wall of his home, mind blanked for a second not in pain but shock; what was making Amy, from what he had seen a gentle and loving person, attack him, even while asleep? He glanced up and threw himself to the side just in time to avoid another crushing strike of the hammer; he cried out in pain as the impact of his landing jarred his injured side and slowed him. He had just enough time to send out a call for help before Amy turned, weapon held high,

"You're not invincible after all"; there was no pity in that tone; all he could do was raise his arms and make a desperate grab for the handle as the hammer descended and agony rushed to claim him.

XXX

_"You're not invincible after all"; the gleaming blue steel of Metal's bodywork was buckled and torn by the tremendous impact of the Piko Piko Hammer. Amy coalesced all the terror and rage she'd felt and used them to augment her strike, the hammer cracking more armour plates and buckling joints of constructed armour._

_"This is it", the voice in her ear urged her on, driving home the importance of this attack, "the one chance you have to destroy this monster; let nothing stop you". And nothing would; even when the wounded monster gripped the haft of the hammer Amy simply let it go, moving in close to pummel the face of the emotionless machine with her bare fists, noticing with gleeful relish that even these strikes were causing damage to the solid face of the robotic hedgehog, trails of oil leaking from the cruel slash that passed for a mouth. She backed off as the red glow in Metal's eyes dimmed; he was no longer a threat, she had to run now and escape this place._

XXX

_So we are nearly there_; the being saw the guardian slump in defeat and, as it sensed the presence of other members of the Brotherhood approaching, it realised this was possibly the best chance it had to make the host comply its wishes. Taking over for a second, the being quickly stored the hammer and moved away from the scene of the combat. Then with a surge of speed, it retreated, giving the host full control again. It waited close to the surface of the host's psyche, awaiting the reaction of the host and the perfect second to strike with its last move.

XXX

The chill, something was causing a terrible draft; Amy moved to grip the blanket and pull it up to cover herself better. She felt herself falling; she opened her eyes and let out a gasp as she felt a heavy impact on her shoulder; it was only frantic scrabbling at the wall with her ungloved hands that stopped her falling backwards as well as to the side. _Where, what happened, how'd I get here, and where's here?_; the pink hedgehog looked down and around, she was in a featureless corridor of metal, nothing around that could explain how she'd come to be here. There was only one explanation; _I must have been walking again_; snarling in annoyance, Amy tried to recall what she'd been dreaming of and put a hand to her head, massaging her forehead as she tried to recall. It was the feeling of stickiness on her fingers that gave her pause; she lowered her hands in curiosity, looking at them hard in the dim light.

A whimper of horror and fear pierced the silence of the night as Amy saw the redness on her hands; the blood was still damp, and what was worse, she recalled that her dreams had involved fighting Metal Sonic, and it had felt real. So real she could have sworn…they, she could have, no, please, no!

Nausea choked her throat, robbing her of the ability to breathe as freezing numbness tore the breath from her body. Her legs felt like straws and she swayed, lurching close to fainting as the pieces clicked into place. There was only one way; burned hollow with terror of what she might see but compelled to do so by obligation; she had to know, had to see what she'd done in her sleep. Her eyes were fixed open as she turned slowly, fixing on the heap in front of her, noticing with fresh terror the blood staining the normally coloured wrappings a dull red and the arm twisted at an unnatural angle.

"A,athair?" There was no response, she knew there wasn't going to be; tears of fear and dread spilled from her eyes as she shook her head, as though denial could make this all go away and leave her in peace. She just noticed the echidna's chest was rising in time with wheezy breathing, when there were footsteps from nearby.

XXX

Sabre had always been a light sleeper, so the frantic mental charge from his father had been enough to both rouse him and cause him to make haste to the source of the call. He hadn't been able to make contact with Athair since he'd started running and that made him put on extra speed; if nothing else his father usually loved to chat – falling silent couldn't mean anything good. He was close; he felt his father's signature in front of him and charged down the corridor, making out indistinct shapes in front of him as he ran. As he slowed to a halt, he felt his stomach recoil in horror at the scene before it.

He noticed Amy unconsciously; all of his conscious attention was focussed on the collapsed, bleeding form of his father. He couldn't tell his injuries off-hand, but he realised that whatever had happened here had been brutal and merciless. He sprinted over and dropped next to Athair, noticing the broken arm and other wounds, but from what he could see there was nothing life-threatening. _What happened here?_; the former guardian felt only confusion; it was only the sound of silent, suffering sobbing that reminded him of who else was present. Despite his concern over his father's fate, Sabre forced himself to concentrate and remember that Amy, even if she had done this, she hadn't known it; she had been asleep, in the grip of a nightmare. Speaking slowly, the surgeon came to his feet, making eyes contact with the teary hedgehog,

"Amy", he raised his hand placating, spurs away, "please, tell me what you remember; what happened?"

XXX

From its situation in the host, the being was able to put the finishing touches to his masterpiece; the host was near to the do-or-die response and small amounts of energy were expended to ensure that could be the case. As the illusion took effect, the being felt the host suddenly snap into animalistic urges to flee from the threat; the response he had been waiting for! With the correct accompanying images and the words the host was familiar with, the being impressed his will onto the now-malleable psyche of the host, the stored power of his little one flowing through in tandem with it,

"_Escape!"_

XXX

_Sabre stood up, fists clenched, face a blank mask of impassive hatred as he looked from the crumpled form of Athair to her. Amy squeaked in horror, heart slamming into her ribs as fear drowned all else; she had hurt Athair, and Sabre, his son, was going to make sure she paid the price for her crimes._

_"You", it was a deadly whisper, laden with promises of pain and suffering, far more frightening than the shout, the bellow of wounded animal pain she was expecting, "you did this!" Her mouth worked soundlessly, she couldn't speak through the dread; she was unable to stop the massive form of the deadly guardian taking his first steps forwards, beginning the countdown to her doom. She pressed into the metal of the wall she was leant against, trying to sink into it as horror built up within. In her mind, the tiny part of her left to think rationally, she prayed for deliverance, a miracle to spare her; and her prayer was answered._

Unbidden, strength flowed through her body like an electrical charge, an image cleared in her head, a still picture as solid as a photograph and two words were thrust into her mouth along with the thought to flee this place; to stay was to risk death. Before the rising tide of terror claimed her, before Sabre could advance to wreck his violent revenge, Amy managed to blurt out the means of her salvation,

"C, C, Chaos Control!" Haven faded from her mind, darkness flooding it as she felt movement from around her – Sabre lunged for her, face aflame with the risk of being cheated his kill; the sickening grip of dread rose and crushed her helplessly – falling, falling, falling…

XXX

He'd felt the surge of untapped Chaos power from her but before he could react, she'd screamed the words aloud and then simply…vanished, gone in a flare of pink light. Sabre had been forced to shield his eyes, but when he'd looked again there had been nothing, only empty space. The surgeon looked down again and reached his decision of what to do next instantly; he needed everyone here right now. Thanking his son for arguing Spectre down on this installation, he raced to the end of the corridor and smashed his spur through the thin veneer of glass at the end. As a ruddy red glow suffused the corridor and a low keening siren sounded off, Sabre rushed back to his father and sent up a beacon of energy, allowing his relatives to home in on his location. As he cradled his injured father in his arms, Sabre prayed they'd be fast enough.

XXX

The blare of a siren shocked Tails from his sleep; leaping upright in alarm, the kit shot out of bed and reached down for his shoes, feeling cold sweat collect on his brow as he tried to think of what that low wailing might mean. Forgoing his gloves of the sake of speed, the fox wrenched open his bedroom door and dashed outside, sweeping his gaze left and right to see if any of his friends had reacted yet. So far he was alone out here, and that wasn't good; _we've got to get up and get outta here_; with this aim in mind, Tails raced to the door closest to his and hammered on it. It was then he remembered that none of these doors had locks; twisting the handle he burst inside, hearing a call as he reoriented himself,

"Tails", it was Cream's voice, the rabbit was trying to slip her last shoe on but was having trouble due to her habit of not untying the laces before she took them off; her eyes were wide and full of fright as she shouted, "what's going on?" The kit's move was instinctive, decisive and most importantly fast; adrenaline pumping around his body, the fox rushed forwards and next thing she knew, Cream was being carried to the door in his arms. She instinctively tucked herself in tight to the fur on his chest, some of the fear she felt banished by having someone familiar to her this close. She watched the shadow of the doorframe pass overhead, then she felt herself being lowered; she slid out the fox's supporting arms and found her feet again as Tails took a quick breath,

"Get your shoe on and then go that way", he pointed to the corridor behind her and she realised what he was driving at, "get everyone out here. I'm going this way".

"Got it", Cream finally managed to get the troublesome shoe on her foot and rushed off, diametrically opposed to Tails' run as she sought to rouse her friends.

The first door for the rabbit was easy; Shadow was already up and aware, he was just grabbing his book of memories from the top of the desk; Cream left him and carried on, shouting over her shoulder that he should just wait outside. Door number two led to a still occupied bunk, a single green arm betraying the nature of the occupant; to the rabbit's momentary despair, Vector was still asleep, the monotonous alarm failing to penetrate the haze of his deep sleep. _No time to waste – sorry but no time and fewer options_; using her ears, the rabbit flew up sharply and then simply fell feet-first, impacting in the middle of the bed with pin-point accuracy.

There was a muffled explosion and not a few bad words thrown around as the crocodile threw off the blanket and groped blindly forwards; his hands gripped flesh and he instinctively tightened his hold, blinking his eyes to clear them even as he snarled,

"You stupid little maggot, what the…" there was a slap on his cheek that he barely felt due to his thick scales; it was the voice that accompanied the hit that brought him back to earth,

"We're in trouble; that's an alarm. Get going". At that precise second Vector's ears saw fit to tune in to the fact that there was indeed a klaxon going off somewhere; gathering most of his scattered thoughts he looked forwards to see Cream, not Charmy, caught in his hands.

"Whoa", he dropped his grip and rubbed his eyes, "what's going down?"

"No idea, but we've got to get out". Vector threw himself out of bed and his scaled feet were easily swallowed by the battered old trainers sat by the side of his bed. Extending his hand, he quickly swung Cream onto his shoulder and took off for the door.

It was as he was leaving his room that a burst of green came from the head of the corridor; Sojourner appeared, looking as concerned and haggard as the rest of them as he blew a piercing whistle down the corridor. Luckily everyone was now present, Vector having been the last to get ready; he let Cream slide to the floor as everyone crowded around the fifth-father. Knuckles, spurs bare without his trademark gloves, reached him first, eyes aglow with concern as he shouted over the din of the siren,

"Sojourner, what is this?" The fifth-father looked over at him; for once he seemed back on the level of mere mortals; there was none of his normal aloofness as he shouted his answer,

"A really big problem", he turned to address them all even as his emerald gifts pinpointed the broadcast point within Haven, "follow me and stay close; we can't lose anyone now". With that, he turned and set off at a fast pace that everyone tried their best to keep up with; Cream took to the air, but felt a pair of hands encircle her and pull her down.

"Hold still, I've got you", Vector called, quelling her sudden panic as the crocodile turned up the gas, keeping up with the others as his great strength allowed him to carry the young rabbit as if she were nothing.

XXX

Sabre waited for the others; there was nothing he could do alone and, much as his instincts screamed at him to help his comatose father, his logical guardian mind made him realise that he could do nothing without the help of his ancestors. They were closing at least; Sabre looked up as someone approached, his voice preceding him,

"Father, what's going…" Locke skidded to a halt as he took in Athair's battered form; he staggered backwards at the sight of the blood seeping into his grandfather's spines as Sabre looked up through teary eyes,

"I, I'm not sure, but I need the rest of the Brotherhood and the guests as well; Athair's seen something that concerns all of us, I'm sure of it".

"Right, Sojourner is bringing the guests and the others are coming", Locke sighed in relief as, like the stereotypical cavalry, the two oldest members of the Brotherhood arrived. Taking in the scene in an instant, Spectre grabbed the reins and asked the question they all wanted answered,

"Sabre, what happened?" To the surprise of all, the surgeon shook his head, the movement sending some tears flying in a silver rain,

"I need the guests; it, it concerns them also".

"Someone call?" Sonic screeched to a halt, face serious and grim as he took in the assembled Brotherhood, sweeping an arm backwards as the others, led by the last of the Brotherhood, arrived in his wake. Everyone gasped at the sight of Athair, Vector turning his head at the sight of blood and Rouge felt tears well up in her own eyes; _Athair couldn't have hurt a fly – who could do this to him, and why?_

XXX

"We need to get Athair conscious; he must have seen the events much more clearly than I did", Sabre spoke quickly, realising everyone was now here and he couldn't afford to get lost in endless questions, "I was woken by a jolt from Athair; he was in trouble and I ran here, that's all I can say at the minute. We need him to fill in the rest". Spectre nodded, face a mask of intolerance as he clenched his hands,

"Sons, channel", as the Brotherhood formed a loose circle, he cast his red eyes at the other Mobians present, solemnity cast in iron in his voice, "don't break the circle and for the love of the Master don't disturb us; this could be life or death". As one, each echidna in the circle closed his eyes and slowly, agonisingly slowly in the case of those watching, brought forwards a single hand; they touched in the centre, held one against the other and for a moment all was still, none moved. Then, Sabre opened his eyes and slowly removed his hand from the intricate design; he turned on his heel away from the circle, eyes fixed on his injured father as the light green glow surrounded his hand. Knuckles stiffened as his grandfather walked past, stepping back involuntarily as Sabre knelt by the side of Athair.

"I know grandson", the current guardian looked on in awe as Sabre bowed his head and reached to place his paws on his own father's injured arm, "the power of the Master are focussed through me; the strength of the others channelled into me". He felt silent, focussing on his task as Vector straightened as this news reached him and he rumbled his suspicions quietly,

"It enhances your powers…" he was interrupted by a sudden crunching, snapping sound; looking over, there were several murmurs of revulsion as what had happened sank in; Sabre had taken his father's broken arm and pushed the ends of sundered bone together. Charmy cringed and shuffled backwards at the sight, but stopped a second later as the glow of Sabre's hand suffused the injury and sank into Athair's flesh. When the surgeon's hand moved once more, the limb was whole again, no trace of the incapacitating break remained. There was a groundswell of awe and amazement before Shadow's hushed voice filled the air, the black hedgehog finishing what the crocodile had meant to say,

"I take it that's a yes".

Sabre was alone in the world; in his mind, there was only him and his patient. He reached forwards again, having worked on the most serious injuries it was time to bring his father back; he, they all, needed to touch the bottom of this foul, murky swamp. Sabre in particular was both curious and afraid; what had made the pink hedgehog act like she had? _Now is not the time to ask questions_; Sabre chided himself for his misconduct;_ now is the time to focus on the problem at hand – cure the patient, then we can question him_. Reaching forwards, Sabre placed his hand on Athair's cold forehead, pushing down, feeling the blackness of the coma part under his burning touch. It took effort, but his reserve of power was almost unlimited; he pressed on, further and further into the darkness, seeking Athair's consciousness and how to restore it. _There_; a touch, a feathery lightness within the murk; Sabre homed in on it, shattering the shackles of night that bound his father's mind and setting it on its way up, free, like a bubble moving up from the ocean depths. Sabre withdrew, awaiting the reaction; he saw his father draw a slightly deeper breath, then another, deeper still; the brown echidna's eyes shot open and his back arched, hands shooting forwards as a single word echoed from his throat in a surge of panic,

"Amy!"

XXX

As the word bounced off the wall, Sonic glanced around and realised with a thrill of dread that the named hedgehog wasn't present. Double-checking, the blue blur gave a sudden exclamation,

"Wait, where is Ames? Has anyone seen her?" There was a collection of shaking heads and icy fingers clawed at Sonic's neck. He jumped back, facing the way he had come, fully intending to search her room in case she was somehow trapped inside before a sudden shout brought him to a halt,

"Wait Sonic", Sabre held up a hand as he comforted his father with his other arm, despair threatening to press in on him as he realised how hard what he was going to say would hit the blue hedgehog, "Amy's, not in her room".

"Then where is she?" Sonic exploded, desperate to know for his own peace of mind, but Sabre shook his head,

"I'm not sure, but we need to talk about this; running won't solve anything here. Wait a second", with that, Sabre helped his father to his feet and, motioning for Athair to hold his explanation for a second, Sabre moved to the circle and once more took his place within it. He then reinserted his hand into the press and closed his eyes; a few moments later, with a collective gasp and groan of effort, the five members of the Brotherhood came apart, leaning on walls or against each other as though exhausted.

"Damn, gets worse every time"; Spectre, raising his eyes and ignoring Thunderhawk's comment, saw Athair awake and gestured to him,

"Fourth-son, tell us what happened; we were all summoned by Sabre and found you here unconscious and bleeding. How did this happen?" Looking around at the expectant faces, Athair heaved in a great breath, telling his awful story.

"I was waiting in one of the entertainment rooms like you asked grandfather Spectre, and then I detected that one of the guests was up and moving slowly around Haven. I thought that could be dangerous, so I went to see what was going on", he paused for a second, trying to think of how best to put this next when another voice stated the connection,

"Let me guess; it was Amy who was wandering", Espio looked around him as the others fixed him with looks that spoke of various emotions, "she's the only one missing, so the law of elimination says she had to be the one, am I right?"

"Yes", Athair confirmed sadly, raising a hand to the collection disbelieving glances and gasps, asking silently for time to finish his tale, "Amy was moving down this very corridor, and slowly, hugging the wall as though afraid she was being watched. I was behind her but I think she must have heard me; she turned around and, and, she was so scared", tears pricked the flying echidna's eyes as he recalled the look of abject terror that had wrenched her face,

"Sleepwalking?" Athair nodded at his son's guess and Sabre gritted his teeth; admitting that wouldn't have been such a great crime, but due to his stubbornness in his demands for confidentiality he had let his father get hurt.

"I dropped to the floor, I wanted to calm her, and I thought I'd done it; she looked more relaxed and I got a little closer, but as I reached out to touch her, she slammed me with her hammer…"

"No", Sonic shook his head; it wasn't that he didn't believe Athair, but he had to be mistaken, "Ames wouldn't hurt anyone, and never to that extent; you were a pulp when we found you, no offence, but no, not Amy". Cream agreed, tears running down her cheeks as she pointed at the three Mobians of team Chaotix, motioning as though offering conclusive evidence.

"He's right; even when we were fighting each other, Rosie never went full tilt; she…" _Rosie!_

A horrified, strangled gasp cut her off; everyone paused as Sabre, blood draining from his face, raised a shaking finger and speaking in a shocked, broken tone,

"What, did you say?" Cream stuttered to a halt and began to repeat herself, including the terrible word that hammered home Sabre's fears; dropping to her level, the echidna struck his hand forwards and clutched onto her shoulder like the claw of an eagle, desperate to know even as he feared the truth would sunder all hope forever,

"Why do you call her Rosie?" Cream tried to bite down on the pain caused by the tight grip and answer before a second voice did it for her,

"That's her name", Knuckles moved to prise his grandfather's grip from the young rabbit's shoulder, "Amy Rose, we just call her Ames normally". Sabre let his head drop; _running in the night, the Chaos power that let her slip away – we are lost_; with a shuddering sigh, the surgeon spoke in a voice wracked with despair,

"Then, you were right; Amy did not harm my father – it was her body and her hammer, but she had nothing to do with it". Tendrils of suspicion filtered into the minds of all, though only one could bring himself to speak,

"What do you mean Sabre?" Thunderhawk's voice was quiet and lacked all the humour it normally did when talking to his favourite grandson.

"I mean we've all been fools", Sabre voice rose into a shout, dripping with self-recrimination as hindsight let him see all the chances they, the Brotherhood collectively, had thrown away, "he gathered the strength he needed right in front of us all and we, and I, never saw it! Amy damn near told me herself but I couldn't see it, and now the second call has been answered; she never had a chance to resist because of my blindness". The anger and pain in the normally mild echidna's voice shocked them all into silence; it was only after a few precious seconds that Spectre, fists clenched until the knuckles whitened, managed to demand the confirmation he both needed and feared above all other things,

"Sabre, you think…?" _Please, by the Master, let him be wrong, let it be just a dreadful coincidence_; as he saw his fifth-son nod, freezing fear flushed his bowels and he could only listen, only wait and accept the words that shattered all the Brotherhood's plans and ideas,

"Yes fifth-father; the gem of blood has called, and been answered, by Amy Rose", Sabre pushed himself to his feet, turning to face his family, face gaunt as though all the cares of the world had been suddenly rushed in to crush his spirit, "the child of thorns".

XXX

There was a pulse of light in the eternal darkness; Amy felt a rush of cold air that punched through the pyjamas she was wearing to caress her skin with icy fingers. She could see nothing with her eyes, but her memories were fresh and raw, tormenting her as she realised with terrible guilt and self-recrimination that she, she had hurt Athair, sweet-natured, gentle Athair, callously, mercilessly, cravenly. Tears of horror flooded from her eyes and she buried her head in her hands, sobbing helplessly as misery surged from her in a raging flood; _I'm a bad person – I should have waited and let Sabre catch me – I deserved everything he would have done and…_

_"Forgive me, but I couldn't let that happen"._

Amy stiffened, hair rising on the back of her neck; she remembered that voice distantly; but now she was awake, she was sure of it, but it was still there, still speaking;_ am I going mad?_

_"No"_; the being was quick to reassure the host of that point; though ruthless in making sure he got what it needed, he wasn't completely heartless and he knew that what had been forced to happen must have put the young girl through a torrid strain, _"you are not insane; that was my doing, you had no choice in the matter_". He felt anger and rage flare against him; Amy had a target to unleash her grief upon and opened up with both barrels,

"You, you did that!" She scanned the darkness, hammer again in her hands as she looked for her enemy, "come out, show yourself to me and we'll finish this".

_"I am where I have been all the time; closer to you than you think"_; Amy lowered her hammer a little in confusion; now she had enough time to think about it, she couldn't actually hear anything as this thing spoke, _"you released my mind from its prison, but now I need more"._

"More, what?" It was then she saw it; a single moonbeam slanted through the hole at the top of this place and struck a flash of colour on the side of the wall.

The Piko Piko hammer clattered to the floor as the being stepped aside, letting the hedgehog access the memories he had hidden from her; as she stood immobile, frozen in place, Amy's mind raced away, down to follow the footsteps once more in their deadly, downward path. In that single second, Amy Rose knew exactly where she was, where this thing had taken her. And worse even than that, she knew what awaited her down in the darkness.

The still night air was rent by a single scream, high-pitched and filled with dread, despair and heart-breaking sorrow. It continued, higher and louder until it reached its crescendo, then died away, engulfed by the silence of the abandoned mines.

A/N: Now can you guess what the power source the being wants is? Next chapter Sonicron, I answer your question once and for all – next chapter, the name of the nameless being is revealed.


	23. Chapter 22 No More Lies

Chapter 22 – No More Lies.

A/N: This is the one ladies and gents; the insidious mastermind behind Amy's fit of rage is revealed and publicly named; it's the last chance to stop the ancient prophecy bearing its dire fruit; can the heroes both stop the being and save their friend? Let's find out, after a few notices:

R. Wolfsbane – Not sure wwhhooah is a word, but thanks for the thought :-). Keep on reading as the climax approaches.

TH – Red Bull, hah! You want to try what my old friend Dan from Uni attempted; on a diet of Red Bull, Cola and ProPlus, he tried to stay awake for a whole week. I think when it got to day four he tried to drink eight cans of Bull in an hour; it was a couple of hours after that he finally fainted after raving that spiders were crawling up his legs and spent the rest of the week asleep. If you want to try something like this, feel free; I'm sure Athair wouldn't mind you borrowing his training room to work out the caffeine high in…

"What are you?" Amy clutched at her head, rage warring with fear and horror; she vented her spleen in the only way she could think of – shrieking at the evil thing she couldn't see, "Where the hell are you?" There was silence for a second, almost as if her tormentor was considering an answer, before that same serpentine voice hissed not into her ears, but almost directly into her mind,

"_I am, or was, a prisoner"_; despite her revulsion, she found herself listening harder as the speaker weaved its tale, _"and you have released me to a certain degree"._ Amy tightened her grip on her hammer haft as though it was an anchor, keeping her mind from drifting away on tides of insanity, never to return. She tried to talk, but her lips were numb and the words wouldn't come; she wetted them and tried once more, the resulting voice cracked and shaky as the words echoed in the dank stillness of this unhallowed place,

"What degree; I know I touched that big jewel…"

"_Yes";_ the voice purred into her ear again, trying to convey a point to her, "_all I needed you to do was touch the Bloodstone and I would channel into you"._

"Channel?" _You released my mind – a certain degree – he, it…_; Amy felt physically sick as the information she so far had swirled into her imagination like a concoction from her worst nightmare; gripped her head with both hands, she screwed her eyes shut and shrieked at the top of her voice, "you, you're inside me!"

Amy thrashed her head from one side to the other; she felt violated, abused and horrified in equal measure, responding primally to the thought of an alien inside her brain,

"Get out! I hate you, you're a monster! Get outta my head!" She collapsed to the cold earth floor, tears trickling from her eyes as she curled up, foetal position, unable to stop that sinister, malevolent voice from whispering into her abused, terrified psyche,

"_Believe me, there is nothing more I would like than to be gone from you Amy, both for your sake and my own. But I need your help to do that…"_

"Never", even scared by circumstances beyond her control and half-frozen from a combination of fear and cold, Amy wouldn't be swayed by what she saw as a devil's bargain, "I won't do anything for you; you tricked me into coming here and then set you free. You're a, a demon; I will never help you again".

"_Very well_", the being sought to make the host understand the gravity of the situation, though he didn't want to cause her undue suffering; over the course of her memories, he had realised she was the kind of person he could have grown very close to had the circumstances been different, _"then all we shall do is wait down here"._ A tiny measure of resolve crept back into Amy; _he'll never break me, if I have to starve in this darkness I won't do anything for him, whatever the hell he is._

"You can wait until Doomsday; I'll never help something as evil as you". The being recoiled at this statement; he was many things, but he could never be evil – his was a sacred mission to save his people from the grip of mortality, allow them to transcend as he had. Try as he might, he couldn't keep all the anger from his voice as this creature spurned his good intentions as poisonous lies,

"_Evil; can a saviour be evil?"_ Amy flinched at the malevolent crackle, expecting pain from somewhere even as she remembered this thing was within her own body and couldn't hurt her, "_I hold within my mind the key to immortality, and I will share it with others as soon as I am able to. Now, a choice is before you; go to the Bloodstone voluntarily, or I'll do it for you"._ Amy shot to her feet, tensing every muscle in her body, testing for any signs of rebellion as she answered with ire in her tone and denial coursing through her veins,

"You can't do anything to me", she put her hands on her hips and brayed with a high, scary laugh, "you're nothing but a parasite, a weak little shell that needs me to survive. Come on then", she spread her arms out wide, almost challenging the darkness to try and claim her, "if you're so mighty, make me move; take my legs and march me to that cheap piece of coal – can't do it can you?" Amy hissed victoriously as she was stationary for a few moments with no answer from the beast in her mind,

"So that little trick didn't work then? What will you do now, oh immortal voice? Come on, I'm dying for an answer". _She believes she has won_; the being forced himself to remain calm in the face of the taunting – he'd faced far worse and not reacted over the course of his struggle to enlighten his people to the mysteries of his teachings;_ I must change her perceptions; time is of the essence as my enemies will be trying to find me now. Forgive me Amy; I did not want to have to reveal this to you._ With an almost-sigh of failure, realising he couldn't delay any longer, the being broke the back of his host's slight victory,

"_All I need to do is wait Amy; you can't stay awake forever; I'll take what's mine when you succumb to the inevitable_", as he felt the now-familiar sensation of burning frost engulf the host's emotions once more, he realised this was the time to admit his habit, _"you haven't been sleepwalking"._

XXX

Silence.

Nothing was said after Sabre's sudden declaration; those connected to Amy were either concerned for her well-being or trying to think what the spurred echidna could have meant by that; the child of thorns. However, it was Sonic, thinking on his feet much faster than most of the others, who burst the bubble of noiselessness,

"What does that mean; it's just her name", the blue hedgehog took in the faces of the assembled Brotherhood and realised it may be far more than that, "what's all this about, and what's it got to do with Amy?"

"She's not in danger, is she?" Rouge spoke up next, her attuned danger sense pinging in response to their new circumstances. This set off a barrage of questions, each overlapping the other and generating a vast, tangled web of speech that no-one could interpret; it was perhaps then fortunate that the one who spoke in response was not interested in answering these questions, for there was a far greater and more weighty matter at hand,

"Everyone", Spectre raised a both a paw and his voice to shout above the others; though this may have helped restore silence, the sight of his bloodless face, set rigid in a deep expression of shock, was what quieted most of the questions, "tell me everything".

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Knuckles stepped forwards and pointed at his seventh-father, questions spilling from his lips as concern for his younger friend mounted, "what's this got to do with Amy disappearing; what is going on Spectre?"

"It doesn't matter!" The voice echoed off the walls and reverberated around the skulls of everyone packed together as Thunderhawk took a pace forwards and continued, his voice quick and universally defeating all opposition, "if you believe nothing else any of us ever say, believe this sixth-son, and the rest of you", he indicated everyone bar the remaining members of his own family; he took a deep breath, truth in his eyes as he continued, "lives are in danger, none more so than Amy's, and all we can do now is try and find out where she's been…taken. We need to know where she's been recently, just before the island came back – it's the only way we can save her and prevent a cataclysm". At first, nothing was said, nothing could be said; people were in danger, and Amy, one of their friends, was caught right in the middle of it all. Then, with infinite slowness and clarity, a single thought formed; _to hell with customer privacy…_

"She went on a case with us".

XXX

She sank to her knees, legs buckling under her as those four words crushed her one last, tiny hope in a steel fist; Amy's sense of violation bloomed sickeningly and she curled up into as tight a ball as she could manage, shaking her head and mouthing a single word in horror, in some effort to deny what she was being told to her by a remorseless fiend,

"No…no…"

"_I'm afraid so_"; merciless he wasn't, but this had to be said to make his freedom secure, "_I had to rediscover the use of a normal body as I recollected my scattered memories. I did not wish to tell you this; I hoped you would never find out before I left you. But it was impossible; I needed you to bring me here from Haven; you had to be the one to say those words and bring yourself to this place. Believe me, if there had been another way, I would have found it"._

The hedgehog gasped in delayed shock as the implications of her parasite's words crashed in on her; _he, had control of me, and I was with the others, as they were asleep. He could have, I would have, hurt them, any of them._ A dizzying vision of a bloodstained Athair lying comatose burst into her thoughts accusingly and she cried out, a low sound, brimming with pain as the certainty that her body had been used to bear arms against a person she counted as a friend. A hollow pit opened in her soul, drawing in everything around it that was her as she whimpered for knowledge she needed yet despaired of hearing,

"What, what did you do, when you…"

"_Nothing"_, the answer was swift and sure; she could only pray it was truthful as well, "_I needed to learn how to control a body, but mostly I just remembered what had been lost, including who and what I was. I believe the only luxury I afforded was a drink; coffee, white with three sugars"._

"You drank that?" For a second, the fear and despair were banished by incredulity; this thing had been a position to do anything with no danger of blame, but had turned it down to take a swig of decaf. For a second she almost smiled, a chuckle threatened to break through her lips, but then the horror reasserted itself as, with a lurch of dread, she recalled everything she done in her sleep and more importantly, everything her puppeteer could force her to do; _he's right – I can't stay awake forever_.

The entity had tried to avoid this, he really had, but now he had no choice; he needed her to go forwards and bring his body into the light. With a sigh of grim finality, inwardly asking for forgiveness even before he acted, he pushed the last button; expending the last of the energy he'd drawn forth from the red Chaos emerald, he showed his host what could have been.

Amy felt like she was trapped in a nightmare; a deadly, dark spiral with no possible conclusion save one. She pressed her hands to her temples, as though by doing so she could crush the ghost in her mind like a flea between her palms. She gritted her teeth, visions assailing her; whether they were her own or provided for her by her pet sadist mattered not, it was what they contained that finally shattered her formidable resistance – her hands stealthily approaching the exposed throat of a sleeping Tails; the shadow of a massive hammer rising up on the wall behind a slumbering Shadow; Rouge gasping in the night, trying to loosen the noose around her neck; Cream…;_ no, not her, not my little sister – I can't let it happen!_

The grim procession was finally ended as Amy screamed again, sinking face down in the dirt as tears cleansed a path down her matted cheek fur, a broken, final whisper barely audible to even her own ears,

"All right", she relaxed on the earth, feeling her strength of resistance fade and leave her lifeless, crushed by the strain of what she'd been exposed to and forced to do by another, "all right; I'll do it".

"_So be it"_; there was no victory in the voice that came for her; it was sombre as though mourning the fallen as it spoke again, "_let us end this Amy; touch the Bloodstone once more, and I will be gone from your life forever"_. Somehow, the promise of freedom of her own, away from this leech, energised her enough to push to her feet and take the first, faltering step. Keeping her eyes on the path she had marked, weeping bitterly and cursing herself every step of the way, Amy began her final journey downwards.

As if anticipating her coming, a hidden chamber below the earth glowed in crimson radiance as the power source at his heart awaited the return of its master.

XXX

All eyes turned to the source of the call; Charmy suddenly found himself the centre of attention and shuffled his feet nervously; stage-fright wasn't a phrase in his dictionary, but as his tongue suddenly stuck to the roof of his mouth and his mind went blank, he realised he quickly might need a newer edition.

"What case?" Sonic stepped forwards and gripped the bee by the shoulders, fierce emerald eyes boring into Charmy's wide ones as though they could drill right into his memories and extract the information directly, "where did you all go, and why?"

"Come away", Sonic was hauled away from the bee and almost off the ground by a combination of Vector and Shadow, the latter looking hard at his counterpart and speaking sternly even as he tried to drain the rising tide of excitement and dread from his own voice, "terrifying him won't help; go on Charmy, tell us what happened". The bee nodded and, thinking of Amy again to help put what he was doing into the perspective of a life-or-death scenario, the young insect recited from his memories as clearly and as quickly as he could,

"I, er, I got a call from Vec, and he said I had to interview a client at the memorial park at four thirty; this was the day, after Boxing day?" He threw a look Vector's way; the croc shook his head,

"Day after, but carry on, you're doing okay buzz-boy". Drawing a little resolve from the lightness in the playful insult, the younger Mobian continued, every ear tuned into his every word,

"Right, well I went, and Amy was there. We chatted for a bit, then I asked about the case; turned out she wanted to go someplace underground and wanted us just to wait topside for her. I took the details to Vec and he sorted it from there". Just before the crocodile took over the story from his team mate, Sabre asked the question needed,

"Why did she say she wanted to get there?"

"She said she lost something down there", Charmy replied without hesitation, the pink hedgehog's words coming back to him like they were spoken yesterday, "it was important to her and she needed to get it back".

"Right", the surgeon nodded before waving his hand at the crocodile, "sorry, please continue".

"Okay, so that was fine; I talked to Amy later that night and we made ready to go the day after tomorrow of that day; that'd be the 29th if I'm counting right".

"You are" Rouge assured him after counting on her fingers and doing some mental maths.

"She's got a map for us and we drive there from Station Square; take one stop for petrol. She pulls us to a stop outside some hole in the ground; it's an old mine system, outside the…"

"Eggman!"

Tails had leapt into the air, his jubilant shout startling everyone near him as he gabbled his guess aloud,

"It's Eggman's old base, or it's in the same system", the kit spread his arms out and elaborated as Sonic thought hard and thought he saw what his younger brother was driving at, "think about it; going to rescue Rouge, it was the only time we've been underground for, well, years!"

"He's right", Knuckles raised his eyes and a wolfish, hungry grin appeared, "it's the only time I can remember Ames going under the surface, and she didn't really like it even then". Sonic smacked a fist into his open palm and straightened, every inch of him seeming to glow with determination as the path set itself out before him,

"Then that's where Amy is and where we're going".

"Good idea but", Sojourner's voice slid into the conversation like oil as the fifth-father licked his lips nervously, well aware that any hint or suspicion of shirking would bring severe reprimand from all parties concerned, "can we be sure this is the right place; is there anything else you can tell us?"

"Yes"; everyone looked around confused for a second before Espio remembered he'd been stood still for a few minutes, "oh sorry; when Amy went down, we gave her a radio and told her to contact us when she wanted to get back. She was adamant that she went down into the mines alone; I thought that was a bit strange, but I let it slide because she was a paying customer. Well, after she went I sat down and meditated for a bit, then I felt it", the chameleon closed his eyes for a second to better remember the sensation, "something went through the ground, a tremor. We thought it might have been a cave-in, but when we radioed Amy was fine. I didn't think about it until now, but the tremor felt, odd; there were no aftershocks or anything else; it was like a, pulse, or a ripple, running through the earth…"

"Then that's the place", Knuckles cut him off unceremoniously, "when the island came back, the Master sent out pulses of power like waves. Amy must have done something that either had an effect or even started the whole ball rolling".

"And she's gone there again; where is this mine system?" Spectre asked the fatal question, breathing shallowly as he realised how much hung on a clear picture of where to go, "can you remember the route?"

"Sorta", Vector replied after a second's thought, a fuzzy picture in his mind as the hand-drawn paper Amy had presented to him was once more in front of him, "I'm not too clear on the details, but I've got a general idea".

"Leave the rest to me; Sojourner, come here"; the smaller guardian approached his grandfather as Spectre ripped off his gloves, panic lending him speed as he beckoned for the crocodile to approach him, "keep the route clear in your mind, I'm going to take it, crystallise the details and then give the image to you Sojourner, it's the fastest way. Are you both prepared?" There were two simultaneous nods and Spectre positioned himself between the two, looking at the rest of his family and the other Mobians as he extended his hands,

"I'll try to be fast, but please don't disturb this; it's a trickier operation than a simple mind scan. Now, let's go". A second later, the black echidna slipped away, the information stream flowing from one mind, through him and into the other; it was his task to filter the sent images and refine them as much as was possible before his grandson received them. Even as he plunged headlong into the task, Spectre was acutely and uncomfortable aware that, right now, the clock was ticking, and the time left didn't favour them.

XXX

The gap in the wall was coming up, though Amy was barely watching the trail of white paint as it flanked the sides of the cunningly hidden passageway. Her mind was in turmoil; she was letting something loose that had been restrained down here for so long she couldn't even ask about the time scale, but by doing so she was making sure he wouldn't hurt her friends through her. _But I'm being selfish as well_; that was the killer, the wound that hurt most cruelly; _I want him out of my mind, I want him to leave me alone, so I'm letting him go_. The pink hedgehog cursed herself again softly, a single, silent tear sliding from her raw, aching tear ducts as she came level with the hole in the wall. She raised her eyes and looked at it, for a moment lost in thought; what had been running through her head the last time she'd been here? If only she'd known what it would lead to, she'd never have…

"_Take your time Amy_", the voice broke in on her unexpected, causing her to jump a little before she could think enough to reply,

"What?"

"_I said to take your time"_, the reply came back hesitantly and the pink hedgehog was mildly disconcerted to hear a vaguely apologetic, pleading tone enter the phantom voice, "_there is time enough; do not rush yourself"._ Though said with good intentions, Amy was too far gone to recognise them; a mocking, bitter laugh slid into the still night air,

"You don't want me to hurry", she scoffed, shaking her head as she placed her hands on her hips, "surely that's not right; you should be demanding me to go faster; your hour is at hand and nothing should delay your release; shouldn't you be spouting off that type of speel?"

"_No, because I respect you too much to try anything as crude and crass as that"._

_Respect_; of all the replies she'd possibly considered, that had to be among the least likely. Her mind went temporarily blank as the admission stunned her,

"You, you respect me? Why?" She almost thought she heard some light laughter, laughter, in a situation as grim as this, before the entity spoke once more into her ears,

"_When I was, utilising the facilities open to me"_, the explanation came through; Amy had the distinct impression that he was trying not to give too much away, "_I had no choice but to pry into a couple of your memories"_.

"Oh God", for once it wasn't fear or dread that filled her, but embarrassment; better than anyone she knew just what was squirreled away in there, "Why, what did you try and see there?"

"_I needed to see where the Chaos emerald was; at the shrine of the hated…the Master Emerald. I saw, and then I had to, travel there to gather the power you would need to come here"_; embarrassment was replaced by violation; suddenly, Amy knew why she had been in such pain in the morning of the day; _this thing used me to run an errand; that's how I got here – oh my God, I used a Chaos Control._

"_Quite true"_; the being recognised the pattern of emotions and chose its next words carefully to both put her at ease and speak the truth it had deduced about her, "_but as I looked, I saw what you were. And what I saw opened my eyes; I saw a fearless, relentless warrior when the situation called for one, but when in times of peace, this was replaced by a conscientious , caring girl who'd do anything for her friends. With not a bad word to say to anyone and a light heart; even now, you blame yourself for something beyond your control and fear more for your friends than yourself – how could I not respect that?"_ For a second, the host was silent and the being despaired of receiving an answer, when a single voice, cautious and taciturn, reached his ears as well as his host's,

"Do you respect me enough, to take one request from me?"

For the first time since freedom, the being wasn't sure what to think to this change of circumstances; could he – he really couldn't answer that? _It will depend on the actual request itself_,

"_I can, consider it"_; Amy allowed herself the barest flicker of rekindled hope, though she was mindful of what had happened last time she though she had one up on her psychic vampire, _"what was the request?"_

"My friends", Amy stood erect, blinking away the flakes of dried tears; _it's too late for me, but maybe, oh please maybe, I can help save them if he promises this_; "don't hurt them; when you're free, don't touch them". She paused, silent, with baited breath, calmly thinking the same line over and over in her mind; _please say yes, please say yes…_

_So noble, even now_; the entity swirled in rapt admiration for his host's seemingly unquenchable desire for peace for those she cared for; there was only one answer he could even consider for this plea,

"_Very well_", the entity realised that though it needed to do something about those who would threaten it, such plans did not need to involve pain and suffering; if anything, he was sick of such things as his memories of the war surged forwards again, "_I swear to you, by everything I am, everything I was and everything I may become; whatever happens, neither I nor my machinations will result in undue hurt being inflicted on those who currently reside in Haven. Is that enough?"_ Amy ran the statement over in her mind thoroughly, looking for any loophole, any noose he could use to wriggle free of his obligation, and almost immediately one appeared in front of her,

"What do you mean by undue hurt? What have you got against them?"

"_The Brotherhood are my enemies; I must conquer them. This process can never be bloodless, but I will minimise the risk as much as I am able"._

"That's all then; I'll take your word for it but remember this", Amy summoned her hammer to her once more, the comforting grip around the handle breathing new life, new defiance, into her mind as she growled menacingly, "break your word and I'll find out, and I will come for you, no matter how powerful you are".

"_I do not doubt that"_, the previous sights from the mind of the host had been enough to convince the entity that Amy meant what she said implicitly, "_you have my word Amy Rose, and my word is unbreakable. Now, much as I am loathe to bring you back to the topic, it is time to fulfil your end of the bargain"._

Without another word being spoken, Amy turned her body sideways and squeezed through the gap, easing herself into the next, last passageway towards her final goal. The pace continued unabated, slow but relentless, though there was a difference this time around; not physically, as she trudged on mechanically, face still mourning and sullen as she began to accept the hand uncaring fate had dealt her, but rather in her mental state. Rather than all-consuming guilt and rage festering in her mind, a tiny ray of light brightened the murk of the inner darkness this thing had brought to her soul; _I might be lost, but at least I tried to save the others – it's not enough, but it's something_.

XXX

With a last gasp, Spectre snapped himself back and let his arms drop, feeling the fatigue burning through them like liquid fire in his ancient veins. Everyone snapped to attention as both Vector and Sojourner reeled away, shaking their heads from the prolonged mental contact as Charmy reacted first,

"You did it?" Everyone looked up expectantly, even Cream, who was sat huddled on the floor with hr back to the wall, still weeping with worry over her big sister's fate despite Tails' best efforts to cheer her up, "you know the way?"

"Yes, but", Sojourner realised he couldn't let this turn into a celebration; they needed to stop this call being answered before they could even think about relaxing and he had a problem with what he had seen; his violet eyes locked with his grandfather's crimson ones, his face a mask of concern as he made his worry plain, "that's a long way Spectre, even with a full channel".

"Then I'm going with you", Sonic stood up, a commanding presence even among the others gathered in this small, narrow corridor; sudden energy and authority suffused the very air around the blue hedgehog as he strode forwards majestically, "if you need to get somewhere I can get you there".

"He's right; Sonic's the fastest here"; Shadow tipped the others a fast wink before looking at his blue friend, a serious mask on his face as he realised just how deep this was hitting Sonic; _Amy's in trouble and Sonic can't just sit here and wait – he cares too much not to do something and I can't stand in the way of that._ The decision was made in a heartbeat as Spectre remembered fishing the speeding hedgehog off the roof of his home vividly and realised for the first time just how fast he must have been going not to fall headlong to the floor.

"Then it's decided; sons, channel into Sojourner; he'll do the rest and", Spectre bowed his head as the other members of his family, even the recently recovered Athair, took their places around him; for the first time he truly did look his age, the stress of his long life weighing down on his shoulders like an oppressive burden he couldn't set aside, "good luck to the both of you; the future of Angel Island may well rest in your hands". With that, he turned to face the rest of his family and slowly reached forwards, letting the power he had left drain away from him, focussing in the one who needed it most to prevent the dire prophesy coming to fruition.

_Amy's done it again_; Sonic watched the intricate pattern of hands reform itself once more, waiting for the merest hint, the tiniest flicker of movement from Sojourner to signal he was ready to go; _she's in deadly danger and I'm sweating bullets over her_. The blue hedgehog clenched his fists as the wait wore on, every second passing like an eon to those with no choice but to wait;_ I swear if, no, when, when she's safe again, I will sit down and tell her – can I get that in writing – what, ah, no I, oh what the hell; why am I even trying to fight? - I ask that every day; you know the truth, all you lack's the confidence to say it_. His thoughts were broken as Sojourner moved fractionally; Sonic was by his shoulder in a second and felt the echidna grip onto his forearm; Sojourner paused just long enough to speak and cast a severe, sincere gaze to everyone who wasn't currently immobile in an ancient ritual,

"Don't break the circle or everything will be lost; now let's go".

"Sonic", he jerked his head around in time to see Cream stand up, eyes pleading as she choked out her words, "bring her back, please?" His reply was lost as Sojourner triggered his power and the pair were engulfed by a green haze.

It was a desert out here; Sonic felt the sand shift underfoot even as he tried to blink his eyes clear and pull Sojourner forwards at the same time. He snarled as he felt resistance, shouting across at his travelling companion even before he could see him,

"Hold still, I'm putting you on my shoulder so we can move". The echidna stopped struggling and a second later Sonic had him swung up on one shoulder,

"Point me"; a skinny red arm flicked overhead, a single finger extended like the needle of a compass. With a rev of acceleration, Sonic roared off, shouting up at Sojourner to move his arm to keep them on course.

The blue hedgehog increased the power as much as was possible in this unstable, treacherous surface, gritting his teeth as the mountains hove into view as dark, silent shark-fins, threatening and ominous in the gloom. He cursed the sand beneath his feet; if this had been something solid like concrete they'd be there by now. Now he saw what he was heading for, he gasped in shock though his speed was unimpeded; _I know this place – Tails was right!_ For a split-second Sonic was struck by the ludicrous thought that Seraph, who had led them all here in the first place for his own, at the time inscrutable plans, was somehow involved before shaking his head; this wasn't the time for far-fetched conspiracy theories, he had someone to save. Flicking his eyes up to make sure he was going in the right direction by Sojourner's pointing, the blue hedgehog sped across the grey desert, the first faint fingers of dawn beginning to infiltrate the murky sky and brighten the tone of the sand he rushed over. As a soft wind caressed the soft sand into tiny dances of motion, Sonic let out a hiss of triumph; it was here, just as he remembered it. The entrance to the mines was dead ahead, open like a gaping maw in the desert. Sonic felt a tap of his shoulder,

"Stop here, I can get us down from the rim of the hole". He didn't even bother to slow down,

"No time for fancy stuff – hold on"; Sojourner shrieked as Sonic leapt upwards over the hole and threw him bodily skywards – the blue ball dropped into the darkness and was lost to his sight as he descended, remembering in time to straighten out and glide in a tight circle as he too passed below the surface of the desert.

XXX

_Once I'd have given anything to know what was beyond this corner_; Amy came to a dead halt at the fated final bend of her journey, poisonous irony singing malevolent hymns in her ears as a grim, weary smile creased her numb lips; _and now I'd give anything to be ignorant of it again._ She could delay no longer; though her passenger remained silent, she could feel he was getting more and more edgy as the journey had progressed. The back of her neck had begun to itch more and more frequently as though his impatience could burn a way through her and escape to complete the journey on its own. The baleful red glow brightened in her vision as the burning intensified,

"_Yes, my most powerful creation"_; she wasn't sure if she was meant to be hearing this, but was too wrapped up in her own problems to care much one way or the other, _"Soon, I shall be free again, and then all shall know the blissful machination of immortality"_. Amy sighed aloud and, swallowing the rising bile in her throat, took the last few steps to cross the threshold of the closest all and stand within full view of the red light's source.

"I know you're there; kill the light show". As if on command, the glow receded and the Bloodstone was revealed in the centre of the chamber. At the sight, Amy clawed the back of her own neck as the itch burst to new levels,

"_Yes, this is it; all the years of planning and illusion, vindicated by this one instant"_, but Amy wasn't listening by this point. She was staring at the facet of the great red stone closest to her, a memory reminding her of something that had happened on the last trip down. There was nothing unusual now and that could mean only one thing,

"Hey, you".

"_I have a name…"_

"I'm not interested", Amy cut the snooty reply off, slashing a hand in front of her and pointing forwards at the heart of the Bloodstone, "my reflection moved last time; that was you wasn't it?"

"_Yes – I had to make sure…_"

"I'd touch it", Amy finished for him, once more cursing her own gullibility as the plain truth unfolded before her eyes; _how could I have been so stupid to fall for it? Am I really that much of an idiot?_

Confidence crushed and self-esteem a ruin, Amy resigned herself to her fate; it really didn't matter now, all she wanted was to throw off the shackles of this thing, crawl into a hole somewhere and die unmourned – if she got away with that she'd have been granted a mercy. There was no emotion present, there was none left in her, as she began the last few steps.

XXX

Sojourner pulled and Sonic came free of the gap, the blue hedgehog stumbling forwards onto firmer and more solid ground. Just as he was celebrating this fact, Sojourner hissed in panic and started off down the corridor,

"It's close now, and the child, she can't touch it; we've got to stop her". For once there was no quip, no joke; Sonic just took off, his blistering speed leaving the echidna in the dust as he blazed his trail forwards; _hang tough Ames, I'm coming._ The paint on the walls had run dry, but that was mostly immaterial as the hedgehog became aware, at the very edges of his vision, that the darkness up ahead was lightening; the air was tinted red; _red like a rose!_ Fresh fear lending him speed even in conditions such as these, Sonic rounded a bend, realised this was the end, took in the scene in an instant and roared into the chamber,

"Amy".

XXX

She gazed into the clear ocean of red, polished ruby in front of her, the light emanating from it that had fascinated her last time was lost now; it simply reflected off her dead, dull eyes. She barely even felt the itch on her neck any more and she certainly couldn't hear anything; there was only the jewel in front of her; _this is my damnation, and my saviour._ Her hands were not protected by their usual gloves; she regarded her right hand, dispassionately taking in the flecks of dried blood that stained the lighter fur. Craving release, wanting it all to end, Amy stretched it forwards, hearing the delighted, expectant whisperings in her ears as the end neared for her.

"Amy". _What_; the voice burst into her mind, filling it with momentary confusion. Her eyes flicked to the entrance of this place and a flash of blue caught her eye; _Sonic?_

_No! I have done too much to be baulked here and now_; there was only one choice; as the confusion dispersed, before the joy and hope could take over, in the split-second of doubt that existed when Amy was in two minds and couldn't react, the being seized its chance. Amy felt her extended arm move; before she could stop it, there was a feeling of coldness beneath her fingertips and a last voice in her ears,

"_There will be pain. I am sorry"._

XXX

Sojourner sprinted to try and catch up with Sonic, cursing the blue hedgehog for not picking him up as he ran. _It would have saved a lot of time and effort on my part; I'm getting too old for this kind of actahAAAHHH!_ The guardian was all but physically flung backwards as a wave of nothing less than pure energy raced down the corridor and smashed straight through him. Sojourner felt it batter his body and knife at his mind; he steeled himself against the assault as much as he could, but even as he did, a second, even more damaging thought assailed him. His knees buckled under him as his guardian powers showed him the full horror of what was unfolding less than a mile from him; an eternal enemy was rising from the grave almost before his very eyes. Sojourner felt his gorge rise and his courage drain from him like water from a spilled goblet as the thought ran back and forth across his mind like a hacksaw; _it's too late!_

XXX

Sonic saw it happen; Amy turned her head to regard him and the first hint of a smile was beginning to dawn on her face, only to be stopped by shock. Her hand shot forwards; nothing couldn't stop it, not even his last shout, the final denial,

"No!" There was contact; Sonic was just able to glimpse her terrified face before the world turned red and the blast of power hurled him away back up the corridor he'd approached from. He crashed into the wall, barely registering the pain from the impact as his appalled gaze was fixed on the chamber as it was now; _Ames, what have you done?_

It was a cauldron in there; a seething maelstrom of red, purple and midnight black swirling in random yet palpably menacing patterns; a fascinating, deadly dance of colours. The whirl and flares of energy made Sonic feel queasy; it felt like he was being exposed to a museum of kaleidoscopes while wearing a pair of 3D glasses. He staggered upright, for the first time in too long unsure of himself, of what to do next – in the face of this new threat he was so far out of his depth he'd need a bathyscaphe to find himself. However, when the first scream, high-pitched and agonised, worked its way from the heart of the violence to his ears, all the doubt was forgotten.

Almost wild with panic, Sonic threw himself forwards. To his dismay, there was resistance, as if the presence of this doom-laden cloud sensed him and resisted his efforts to push into it. He strained every muscle in his body, trying to force his way in, pressing against the unyielding surface of the storm as he at last found his voice.

"Amy, I'm coming. For the love of God be all right, please be all right!"

XXX

It had promised pain, and it did not lie; her head was splitting open down the centre, her brain shivering in the exposed atmosphere as liquid fire coursed through her blood and set her alight. Every molecule of her body was screaming in torment as the Bloodstone pumped its limitless fury into her and, through her, the beast in her head. Then, abruptly, it stopped; the agony ceased as quickly as it had begun and she fell, unconsciousness beckoning as the pain made everything go a dull, lifeless grey. She staggered, clutching onto something for support as she dimly heard a voice, lost in the distance, calling her name and begging her to stay safe. _Sonic_; she denied her urge to give in to the welcoming arms of darkness, trying to focus on the words of her love to drag herself away from the pit of shades. As she gradually brought herself upright, still leaning on the great stone for support, the tempest around her was stilled; for a split-second the endless dance ceased as the work of its conductor was done. The second stretched into eternity, before a single word restarted time itself,

"Liberty".

XXX

Once more, he was clothed in his own flesh, a body to call his own again. The Bloodstone in his palm, there was nothing that could stand in his way now; he would unleash the ageless fury of his past glory and there would be no-one with the strength to make a stand against it; he would save them from death, whether they resisted him or not. Death was not the unavoidable eventuality, it could be prevented – had he not himself cheated the reaper by hiding like he had? As his eyes opened for the first time, he felt a slight smile tug at his lips as he realised his predicament; just as quickly his amazing mind had solved the problem. Fixing his destination in his mind, he spoke the words his host used to save his modesty; it simply wouldn't do to introduce himself naked.

XXX

As he strained against the force resisting him, Sonic gritted his teeth and bunched his muscles for one last effort. He threw himself forwards, shoes beginning to sink into the ground beneath them as he exerted every inch of power he had into the last push; _I gotta do this for Amy_; her name sent a surge of renewed determination through his aching arms as he flicked the sweat from his eyes;_ she'd do the same for me, if not more – I've gotta do it for, huh? _Suddenly the resistance was gone; unable to catch himself in time, Sonic launched forwards and fell ungainly into the dust on the chamber floor. Sneezing from the dirt that had lodged in his nose, he threw himself to his feet, taking it in with a glance but seeing only one thing.

She was leaning against the red emerald, pain etched on her face and eyes half-closed; he wasn't sure if she was conscious or not. He made his move, rushing forwards to grab her and speed away from whatever this foul place was, she was almost close enough to touch, he could feel the fur on the arm he was reaching for…

"Chaos Control". She blurred, the whole thing blurred in front of him, and she was gone; his hand passed through empty air and nothing more as Amy, the ruby she'd been leaning on and the other one who had spoken were taken away by the technique he and Shadow had mastered and Sojourner had been born with.

_She's gone_; it didn't sink in, it couldn't – Amy Rose, his one constant interference, the fly in his ointment, his bugbear, _his friend_, his obsessed fan-girl, the personal nuisance, _his belle_, a manic hammer-wielding nightmare sent to haunt his waking moments with threats of commitment, _his love,_ was gone, taken from right out of his hands. Sonic stood mute, feebly pawing at the air as though he could somehow coerce the very atmosphere itself to bring her back to him. He heard nothing, saw nothing and felt nothing, not the flare of green at his back, not the rushing that came closer to him, nor the fact his name was being called.

XXX

"Sonic", Sojourner had realised it had ended with that last flare of chaos energy and, as he was obliged to do by the guardian code, had to come and clear away the aftermath. The fact that at least one of the hedgehogs was here was a good thing; the fact that Sonic seemed to be ignoring him in a crisis like this was not so highly though of however.

"Sonic" the older guardian repeated, stomping over to seize his shoulder and spin him around, "what happened?"

"Gone", the voice was a shell of its former self; _much like he is_; Sojourner recognised shock when he saw it and Sonic was basically suffering right now, "he took her; I was too slow".

_By the Master – he's free and there is no hope_; Sojourner bowed his head as his third-son's dire prediction was proven in the most heinous way imaginable;_ our greatest enemy unleashed, and we, any of us, could have stopped it at any time_. For a second both Mobians were silent, before Sonic realised who was standing right in front of him; Sojourner had a second to register the dangerous growl before a crushing grip fastened around his throat and he was bodily slammed into the nearest wall. Gasping for air, he suddenly found himself eye to eye with Sonic and despite himself shivered; the blue hedgehog had gone from zero to lethal in a matter of seconds and Sojourner realised uncomfortably that he was the target of the hedgehog's rage.

"What the hell just happened and how did Amy get mixed up in it?"; Sojourner slapped the hand around his neck, trying to loosen the grip for air, only for the blue hedgehog to snarl and push him harder against the unyielding stone, "answer me guardian!" _There's no time for this_; Sojourner had to resort to desperate measures to get word to the rest of the Brotherhood, throwing Sonic back with a telekinetic shove and holding him at bay.

"Can't…say", the guardian began raspily, massaging his throat as Sonic rallied against the force pinning him in place,

"Can't, or won't" he hissed venomously, eyes glinting as he launched into a tension-relieving rant, "you're all the same you echidnas – don't say anything until the last minute then wonder why everything goes to pot. At least I know it's genetic now and…"

"Shut up", Sojourner managed to speak without pain and dropped his power, letting Sonic fall a little to the floor to cool his spurs, "I can't say here; the others need to know, all of them" he remarked pointedly, mustering the strength he had left as the madness dropped from Sonic's gaze. As the rage left, the hero seemed to deflate, his aura of invulnerability failing like a bulb blowing as the full impact of his loss jarred him right to the roots.

"Right", he mumbled, recalling Cream's tearful face and screwing up his own as shame bit down hard; he had failed to bring Amy back because he hadn't been fast enough, and now he had to break the news to the others. Seeing his companion docile for the minute, Sojourner knew he had to gamble now; Sonic was in no condition to run anywhere safely and, though the race to find the Bloodstone had been lost, the race to arm against both it and its master had just begun. Carefully gripping Sonic's upper arm, the echidna dug deep into himself and, silently praying to the spirit of the Master, called forth his emerald powers.

XXX

The corridor here was silent, the tension palpable as every Mobian present dealt with the strain in their own way. Tails gave a wan grin and motioned to Rouge, trying not to move as Cream had succumbed to the exhaustion of worry and was snoring at his shoulder; leaving Knuckles for a second, the bat squatted down by the side to hear Tails whisper,

"All we need now is Nack and a couple of concussion grenades, what d'ya reckon?"

"I reckon you're right", she remarked, mind wandering for a second as the circumstances the foxboy was describing came back to her in a haze – truth be told she'd nearly forgotten them now, sealing them away as a place she really didn't want to go anymore. Shaking her head, her large eyes narrowed, glancing down the corridor,

"Come on Sonic; you're not usually one to keep us waiting".

"You said it", Rouge looked around, she hadn't realised she'd spoken out loud and Tails had overheard; the fox looked up at her and spoke in what he thought was a convincing tone, "I bet he's on his way back right no…"

There was a bright green flash at the corridor end that blinded everyone with their eyes open; there was a rush of displaced air past him and Tails felt something impact on the ruff at his front at the same time Cream stirred, blinking herself awake and peering around slightly confused. As his sight restored itself, the foxboy felt himself go a deep red; Rouge had fallen or been knocked right into him and was currently sprawled in his lap while Cream still had one of her arms draped over his shoulders. Neither was he the only one to notice; Knuckles had a sly smirk at his blushing girlfriend as she fought to stand up, scarlet from anger and embarrassment as she looked for the git who had knocked into her. _Wait a sec, weren't there only five echidnas there earlier_; in her slightly skewed perceptions it took a few priceless seconds to put the pieces together.

"Sonic", the cry was raised and every head whipped around at the familiar figure at the corridor mouth, silhouetted against the light from the channelling circle, a light that was dimmed as Sojourner added his hand back to the collection in the centre and the Brotherhood broke apart with a collection of heavy gasps and oaths. Shadow was fastest off the blocks, racing up to his flat mate and gripping his shoulders, desperate for news though the fact that he couldn't see Amy made him suspect things hadn't gone exactly right; _all I can do is offer him hope_,

"Sonic, what happened, where's…" he tailed off hopelessly when he saw the hero's face.

There was such a look of dumb brute misery present that every thought of comfort and kind words was blown right out of the ebony hedgehog's mind – there was nothing that could even begin to offer hope to that desolation. Yet it was nothing, less than nothing, to the words that issued from the forlorn figure, drifting to the others like mournful ghosts, draining courage and resolve from them as the impact crashed home,

"She's gone", Cream burst into tears, Charmy lowered his head and sniffed as Knuckles felt his fists drop, recognising the loss in the blue hedgehog's voice; _I've been there, and he has helped me_. The echidna realised his task; shouldering his way through the press, ignoring the hedgehog's self-flagellation as he made out his responsibilities by not being fast enough, he reached out and took Sonic's shoulder in his hand. Half-spinning him, Knuckles forced him to meet his gaze and spoke the same words he had once helped the echidna with, when all had been lost and the fault had been his,

"Sonic, we will get her back".

The echidna brushed aside Sonic's feeble attempt to disprove him; his blood was up now and nothing the hedgehog could say would sway his mind,

"I don't care where you say she's been taken or what happened", he spoke, feeling the resolve of the others harden behind him, using his words as a template for their own resolutions of rescue and reparations, "we can get her back and we shall". For a second he feared; Sonic's eyes threatened to drop and lose all interest save in blame and penitence, but then the fires of retribution were stoked and his eyes shone terrifyingly. _If I was the one who that fire was directed at_; Knuckles thought solemnly as Sonic stood upright, spikes straightening and ears pricking upright as the strength bloomed throughout his body again; _I would be very afraid_.

"Thanks Knucks", the guardian shook his head slightly as Sonic turned his gaze to him,

"You've done the same for me"; Rouge guessed what he meant by that but held her peace as Sonic's voice boomed out again, drowning the sound of Cream's tears as he moved over to her and helped her up, speaking to all of them but seeming to keep his attention focussed solely on her,

"Come on Cream, Amy wouldn't want to see you crying like this, would she?" he waited until she shook her head before offering his hand; as he pulled the rabbit to her feet he carried on, "I'm not sure what we're up against here, but I know someone who is".

XXX

_How right he is_; Spectre watched as the attention of all the guests focussed on the Brotherhood and him in particular. There was an atmosphere of barely constrained hostility, as though this was all their fault and, Spectre cursed as he tried to regain some of the energy he'd lost from the channel, in a way it was. _If we had been more open, would Amy have come forwards earlier?_ As he gathered the breath to speak, another voice cut in and for the first time since he couldn't remember when, the eldest was actually grateful to hear Athair's voice,

"Please, don't be too angry with us all; there was a reason we didn't think we could say about this".

"And what was that?" Vector snorted, wisps of smoke curling up from his nostrils as his temper rose, "what was so important that you had to put a life at risk to keep it covered up?"

"A family's shame, generations old and the reason behind the burden we each have borne", Spectre managed to say, diverting the attention to him once more as the atmosphere noticeably dropped in temperature, everyone trying to take in the black echidna's words, "we would have told you Knuckles, once you had been succeeded, the reason behind our guardianship, and the true history of the guardians themselves. But it is open now; he has returned and you're all a part of it", Spectre stood as much as was possible, a single pleading look stifling all opposition from his family; much as they had all wanted to avoid this, once part of the riddle had been solved, they had known these questions would be asked. So, after taking some support from his son and sending Locke on an errand to fetch the oldest map in the library, drawn before the sundering, Spectre bade them listen. _Forgive me Edmund, but your foe is arisen once more, and this is all that may be able to stop him,_

"It began when the Master was discovered…"

XXX

Luckily, Amy had kept her eyes shut for quite some time after the journey had ended; this had given him the time he had needed to correctly attire himself for female company. As he slid his visor into place, he heard a startled gasp behind him and, with a smile, turned to face the Mobian who had been his host and then released him into the world of immortality once more. _The fear must be great, caught up in something she can't really understand;_ once more there was regret that the ancient struggle had forced him to use such as tactic as this, but war was honourless and he had to be triumphant; the future of his species depended on it. Trying his best to look less threatening than he actually was, the echidna turned slowly to face his guest, looking down to disguise his unusual eyes.

XXX

Amy watched as a pair of strong hands, tipped with the deadly claws that Knuckles displayed on his own paws, gently lowered a large gold helmet onto the red dreadlocks, the exact same colour as the stone she still had a paw on. She couldn't help but gasp as there was a metallic click from somewhere; alerted by the noise, the beast, the same thing that had ruled her from within her own mind, span to face her, head lowered as she took in the frame of the body and the armour, ceremonial or not, he sported. Numbed by a potent cocktail of recent pain, fear, misery and utter despair, the hedgehog felt nothing as she simply asked her last question of the Mobian before her,

"Who are you?"

"That would depend on who you ask", the voice was deep and gruff; obviously his voice control wasn't perfect yet, "to some I am a prophet, an enlightened seer who can lead them to immortality and let them throw off the shackles of flesh; equally, others who spurn my teaching call me a tyrant, an oppressor and a madman. I was once a son, and a grandson, but those days are long behind me, as are my days as a father; all I have left are great-grandchildren, who you will meet shortly. I am all these things and many more, but…" and he lifted his eyes.

Amy just managed to suppress a scream; his face was mostly normal enough, it was broad and open; some might even have called it handsome. However, it was the eyes that scared her, that banished all pretence of normality from her mind; the pupils were fuzzy and diffuse, drifting within his eyes like fish in a barrel as though he could or would not focus them on a fixed point. It didn't seem to affect his vision though; he looked into her face, her own eyes, almost as though trying to look into them. A heartfelt smile folded his lips as he completed his introduction,

"…my name is Dimitri".

A/N: If the name's unfamiliar don't panic, explanation next chapter. If it's not unfamiliar, any guesses who the great grandchildren Amy's meeting next are?


	24. Chapter 23 The Flesh is Weak

Chapter 23 – The Flesh is Weak.

A/N: This chapter introduces two new characters; they'll become important in future fics. It also explains how my theory of the Dark Legion and what Dimitri's actual goals are – let me know if they're believable or not. A few words as always:

Gradius the Phoenix (GTP from now on :-)) – Yep, I've got more loose screws than a scrap yard, but Dimitri? – hopefully as this chapter will explain, he's not quite as mad as you think he is; read on and let me know if you think I've made his methods believable.

HHH – Yay, a real fan; hopefully this'll cool your spurs for a few more days while I write up the next chapter. Getting near the end now; hope to see you around in the future fics :-).

TH – Words fail even me sometimes… (Athair says you're welcome by the way!)

"The echidnas of ancient times worshipped it for a while, offering prayers and small bundles of fruit to ensure the Master would never fail, never bring their peaceful haven to rest in the ocean beneath them, for they feared what they would find there", Spectre spoke solemnly, head bowed as he sensed the mixed emotions of his sons, Knuckles included. As he had expected, the current guardian was incredulous and not a little angry; from his point of view, his family had been keeping yet more secrets from him. _Well Knuckles, this is the last time this will happen_; Spectre swore a binding vow in that instant, the emotions of loss, grief and heartbreak heavy on the air, and knowing it was all the fault of the guardians trying to preserve their history; _the legends must be made plain – these here will aid us as they have recently and…_

"Hey", the voice broke in on him unkindly, Shadow glaring at him harshly, arms folded in a picture of barely concealed distaste and anger, "get on with it; a history lecture won't help Amy".

"Apologies, lost in thought", the black echidna said quickly before deciding to scrimp on the details to save time, "well, our civilisation advanced quickly, though why is a topic of much historical debate. Some think the Master was involved, others that echidnas simply learn and innovate better than most other races, but either way, the time came when, all other technology exhausted, the only object of study left was the Master Emerald itself".

For a second there was silence; it seemed than none of the guests or his seventh-son could even conceive the idea of someone experimenting with something that powerful, just for something to do.

"So these guys, what they just stuck a couple of electrodes into it and saw what happened?" Vector blustered, jaw hanging open as the seeming idiocy of these ancient Mobians stuck out like a sore thumb.

"No, of course not", Locke broke in, having just returned with a thin roll of parchment, nearly brown with age, tucked reverently under one arm, "the experimentation was done under the strictest control, by the finest minds of the time; no-one could predict the consequences would be so dire".

"My sixth-son is correct", Spectre said quickly, smoothing over the hook Locke had left to snag the others, silencing the mechanic with a dangerous glance before continuing, "the finest minds of the time were chosen to examine this, the heart of Angel Island. The two who were selected were brothers, a pair as close as it was possible to be; the eldest was called Edmund, the younger was Dimitri".

XXX

With the recent emotional trauma and physical pain, Amy simply shut down; her mind retreated into a blank, protective numbness that blocked all emotional input into the situation; she saw and heard everything she was shown and told, and indeed memorised large portions of it, but there was no involvement at any level. She was simply a databank, a faceless computer that trailed in Dimitri's wake simply because there was no reason not to – she couldn't find her way out of this place on her own, so tagging along with him seemed to be the safest option.

XXX

"Follow me"; with that and ensuring the Bloodstone was powering the lighting sufficiently, the echidna span on his heel and slowly led her out of the room they were currently stood in, checking over his shoulder to check she was on his trail. _She has been hurt by my actions_; Dimitri felt ashamed about his manipulations of her and the pain he'd put her through, but this was a case where the ends had to justify the means; by the suffering of one, he could save thousands of others from death, and that was what mattered. Even so, as he walked, he muttered an almost silent prayer under his breath that, in time, she would heal her sore wounds; that his machinations hadn't destroyed the sweet girl he had seen and grown fond of during his parasitic possession.

Pinpointing his direction, he decided that the best thing to do was to resuscitate the rest of his family; maybe seeing some more faces would bring Amy out of the shell she'd cocooned herself within? That decided, Dimitri strode through the deserted base, going around the long way to avoid the central chamber, until he came into a small room, made unique by the presence of the two twin capsules that lined the back wall.

"My apologies for the dust", Dimitri commented as he brushed the cobwebs off the ancient control panel in front of him with his armoured gauntlet, "I'll have to have a word with the cleaning lady". _Her eyes moved_; with barely concealed relief, he saw the brief flicker of movement in the reflection of the second capsule; _she's not completely gone – if I handle this well and these two behave themselves, I can help heal the harm I caused._ A weight removed from his shoulders, he returned to his task; with a flare of energy from his greatest triumph, he pressed his hand to the console and heard the ancient gears hum in response, soaking up the emerald energy like water in a desert. _A innovative invention these capsules_; he thought to himself, remembering sealing his grandchildren away to await his victory or defeat; _they opened to a surge of energy, such as I am providing now, or a wave that would have been released when the Bloodstone was destroyed_. He smiled despite himself – he had insured that, regardless of the outcome of his final battle, some of his flesh and blood would remain to carry on his work.

"Amy, come up here a moment", obediently, the pink hedgehog stood next to him, face still blank and emotions repressed behind an iron-barred gate; _a typical response to shock – the brain is remarkably adept at shutting out information too unpleasant for it to consider at the current moment;_ he shook himself as the power expended was sufficient; with a hiss, both capsules began to open, dry smoke whispering out the open cracks as Dimitri gently moved closer to the pink hedgehog, speaking honestly as joy filled him,

"Amy, you have made this possible; for the first time in eons, I have my family back". The last of the smoke was dispersed and, with a pair of groans and clicks of dormant muscles being forced to move, two figures emerged into the light.

XXX

Spectre bowed his head as he came to one of the crunch areas of his recitation; this was going to be hard on all of them, least of all Knuckles. Once more he reassured himself of his promise and then gathered all his remaining courage to speak,

"Their studies were many and intense, lasting many years; each time, the two scientists would compare notes, argue theories and put forwards new studies to a select committee of peers, who would grant or refuse permission to the study".

"Sounds sensible", Tails spoke, though he was well acquainted with this type of talk and, more importantly, what it normally preceded, "so what went wrong?"

"Nothing", Spectre replied instinctively; he caught himself and tried to squirm out of the situation he'd landed himself in, "well, at least not at first", the increase in tension was dramatic, he was surprised the walls weren't starting to buckle under the strain of expectation, "it was their greatest triumph; after years of painstaking trials, sensitive, minute experiments and millions in research money, they unveiled the culmination of their work to the committee they worked for".

"It was a machine", Thunderhawk realised the effort of talking for so long was taking its toll on his father and took over, allowing him to rest a while, "Edmund and his brother had discovered that, on paper at least, they could draw off a part of the power of the Master into another source".

"They what?" Knuckles exploded, looking horrified that anyone, even another echidna, would dare tamper with the Master Emerald in this crude fashion. His lavender sixth-father waved him down, talking urgently as he tried to explain,

"I know, it sounds incredible and foolish now, but at the time it was groundbreaking research. But anyway, the machine was built according to their specifics and eventually ready for action; and before anyone asks, it worked".

"It worked?" Shadow parroted, agog at this news; Spectre, now having recovered his breath, spoke once more,

"Flawlessly by all accounts; the machine was able to draw off tiny silvers of the Master's true power and condense it, into a new form that could be manipulated independently of the parent", the black echidna gave a wan smile as he filled in the first of many unpleasant truths; _strange_; he mused as he prepared; _this isn't quite as difficult as I predicted it would be_; "you've already come across these silvers of power; they were named after an ancient joke – apparently Edmund remarked that the Master stood for order, so these other, lesser jewels must stand for the opposite". For a second, infinite and timeless all at once, there was nothing, until a feminine voice, gasping with disbelief and unconcealed awe, spoke out loud the thoughts of all,

"You mean to tell me", Rouge began, mind flooded with images of the seven bright jewels and all the strife they had caused the world, "that these two echidnas, created the _Chaos Emeralds_?"

"Yes".

XXX

_I see two more echidnas_; Amy uncaring observed as the new pair of Mobians emerged from their seeming hibernation, her emotions still deadened to the circumstances as the first voices filtered through the air,

"Oww, I'm stiff as Kragok's bed sheets".

"Tidings of love and good cheer to you to Kommissar", the other answered, twisting his neck to emit an unpleasantly loud crunch, "ahh, I hate suspended animation". Dimitri slowly brought a hand to his face and covered his drifting eyes, a light blush diffusing through the skin of his cheeks as he stooped closer to Amy's ear,

"Remind me again; at what point did I think this was a good idea?" There was another flicker of her eyes, as well as tiny twitch of her lips that he took as a sign of improvement; straightening up and remembering that prolonged periods in the type of atmosphere his grandchildren had been preserved in resulted in temporary blindness upon release, he clapped his hands and addressed them as they swung their heads to follow the sound,

"You two, straighten yourselves up, we have company". The reactions were different, Amy decided through the clarity of unfettered logic as she recorded her first impressions of what she were sure were Dimitri's aforementioned great grandchildren.

The first was an echidna female; she had light, almost sky blue eyes, a classically sculpted face and a body that would have reduced most men to gibbering, drooling idiots, even if her hair was untidy at the present moment. She also dressed to compliment the benefits nature had given her; her top was leather, short and both high and low cut, exposing the top half of her figure as much as was possible, while her legs were hugged tightly by thin leather trousers. There was some kind of handgun dangling at the left of her waist belt, and a whip at the right. However, some of her spines were laced with metal and, Amy cocked her head for a slightly different perspective, one or two looked like they'd been completely replaced with metallic counterparts. She didn't have too long to dwell on this though; as Dimitri's voice drifted over, her hands shot up to her cover her mouth in what Amy decided was a mixture of shock and relief as her still-unseeing eyes widened extraordinarily,

"Great-grandfather, by the, is it really you?"

The other capsule disgorged a rather more interesting specimen for her examination; he was slightly shorter than the female, stouter as well. His fur was a slightly lighter shade than Knuckles' and he lacked spurs. _But then again_; the pink hedgehog mused soundlessly; _he's only got one hand, and one eye for that matter_. This was certainly true; his left eye was missing, but in its place was something made of metal that must have fitted into the empty socket left by the missing biological organ. Similarly, though rather more disconcertingly, the male echidna's left arm ended at the elbow; where the forearm should have been there was something else entirely. Something mechanical. Something…disturbing.

It was a rod that connected to the elbow joint and must have followed the course of a forearm; it gleamed dully in the dim light. This rod was tipped with what Amy could only accurately describe as a claw; three separate hooked projections flexed like fingers, the tips seemingly blunted, though the pink hedgehog was under no illusion that, should this strange cyborg will it, anything caught in the grip of his claw could very easily be crushed like a grape. His reaction was remarkably different to the female's; the metal on his face suddenly winked into life and a narrow bar of thin red light sliced out of it and settled on the source of the greeting; Amy tilted her head back to see the beam play over Dimitri's face before it shut off and the echidna bowed stiffly from the waist,

"Grandmaster Dimitri; an honour to see you once more".

"Lord Kragok", Dimitri returned the pleasantry with a curt nod before fixing his gaze on the female, "Lady Kommissar; yes it is truly me who has released you – our plans have not quite gone perfectly, but the situation is good. I have the Bloodstone and the guardians are in disarray".

"Then we should press our advantage", Amy heard the younger male, Kragok, speak up, the red beam from his cybernetic eye sweeping the room erratically as his excitement at the news became very apparent, "sweep them aside while we have the chance; soon all Echidnopolis will learn the true ethos of our teachings", it was at this point the red slit passed over Amy; the pink hedgehog had a fleeting notion of being passed under a bar scanner before the roving of the mechanic eye ceased and suddenly swept back, locking onto her, the bale red light reflecting off her unblinking eyes as his voice rose in consternation,

"What; who are you?"

"Who?" Kommissar cut in, her sight not yet returned as Dimitri took a pace forwards, standing just behind Amy; he resisted the urge to place a protective hand on her shoulder on the grounds she might take the wrong end of the stick,

"She is the reason we will not be making any sudden movements", he said sternly, his insouciant pupils tracked by Kragok's steady red laser, "this is Amy Rose; she is an…acquaintance and she's just had a terrible shock. We will attend her and reveal the nature of our divine mission to dispel some of her inherent confusion and try to lessen the impact of her ordeal". There was a snort as Kommissar crossed her arms petulantly,

"We can also wait for my sight to come back – I'd like to be able to see something more than a big patch of white". Amy turned her head as a second, more contemptuous snort filled the air as Kragok snapped his artificial eye on her face,

"Your continued reliance on organics baffles me; as proven by the formation of the legion itself, the true route of salvation is there to be embraced, with those who have the courage to do so".

"I am not afraid Kragok", she barked back hotly before tucking her spines, metal and organic, behind her ears as she tried to straighten some of them to look more presentable, "it's just my eyes are my best feature".

"They're certainly better than your mouth, or your mind for that matter" he replied acidly; as she scowled and made to reply to the taunt, Amy heard a sigh; glancing back to obtain more information, she saw Dimitri flick his eyes down to his wrist as though checking the time,

"Less than two minutes, a new record even for them", he waved his arm at the two squabbling echidnas who were far too wrapped up in their quarrel to pay him any attention, "this is my family Amy".

XXX

"So the Chaos Emeralds, they're synthetic, all of them?"

"Right you are Tails", Locke answered his new partner, leaning the rolled up scroll carefully against a wall to his right as he both answered and continued the story, "the first Chaos Emerald was distilled from the Master, and with its creation, and further manipulations of this new and almost limitless power source, the echidna society bloomed like never before".

"I can imagine", Espio pictured the scene in his trained mind, "that power, made available and for free; it must have been a great triumph, and a great temptation", he finished pointedly; to his well-concealed surprised, Sabre let out a bitter laugh, still recriminating with himself about his role in letting the child of thorns slip through the fingers of the Brotherhood and awaken the slumbering doom,

"Temptation; temptation for whom – who would have stolen it? Once the technique had been perfected and refined, the newly-christened Chaos Siphon was put into full production status – no-one recorded how many Chaos Emeralds were created, but it was more, far more, than the seven that now remain".

Once more the shocked silence descended; that the Chaos Emeralds, with the power to save or damn the world forever, had been created by Mobians was fantastic enough, but to know there had been more, who knew how many more, at some stage, was truly frightening. The Brotherhood joined in the silence, allowing those who had experienced the dreaded jewels as long as they needed to accept this shattering news; in the end, it was the only one in the party who was ignorant to the true strength of the emeralds who breached the silence,

"So", Cream began; she blurted out the rest of her sentence before her nerve failed her completely, "so what happened next?"

"Nothing, not for many years at least", Spectre replied, gathering more momentum as the others began to listen again, "it was a golden age of expansion and advancement; the echidnas of the island rapidly evolved an discovered new technologies, the most important of them being the Silver Sea dam and Echidnopolis itself. However, it was not to last", Spectre sighed heavily; often he had walked the trodden road of history in his mind, seeing the glories of his people and the marvels they created; _a fate they did not deserve to be lost as they were_; he shook himself before continuing his woeful missive, "During their monitoring of the Master, Edmund and Dimitri were concerned to discover that the drain placed on the Master by the extraction of the Chaos Emeralds was being detected by the instruments they were using to examine it. This worried not only the scientists, but the members of the council as well; there was a certain doom-mongering that led some very influential people to assume the island was about fall into the ocean and drown. The response was immediate and swift; there was a mass public outcry to restore what had been taken and stabilise the Master – after all, the Chaos Emeralds weren't really needed any more. There were other sources of energy now, water-based fission, hydroelectricity from the dam, so there would be no loss on the whole. But, as events unfolded, giving back was much more difficult that taking away; the Chaos Siphon the brothers had created didn't transfer energy from the Chaos Emeralds to the Master very well; it was a very slow process and took a long time".

"So what was the problem – they would have got rid of the emeralds eventually right? Knuckles spread his paws out in confusion; he couldn't see anything wrong with the scenario as it was – it was Vector who saw the tangling of the threads,

"Wait, Spectre; you said there was a public outcry about what was goin' on?"

"Yes, there was…"

"Then that's your problem red", the crocodile turned to the guardian, a tight, toothy smile making his leather lips taut, "the public; when they've got their blood up about something, they expect results yesterday. It's like us three workin' a case; the clients don't care about difficulties or the need to do a proper, thorough investigation; they want an answer and they want it now, no excuses. My guess is that the two boffins had a weight pressed on them by everyone going and it caused them to get a bit reckless, am I right?" _He's got sharp wits, whatever else you might say about him_; Spectre mentally congratulated the crocodile's ability to see the straight line in the spider's web and nodded,

"That's right; due to pressure and public concerns about the Master, and the potential consequences about what could happen if it failed, Edmund and Dimitri were put under more and more pressure to work faster and harder, to disperse all the Chaos Emeralds they'd created. It took a toll on them; late nights, quarrels and possible addictions to unpleasant chemicals, and eventually caused them to get a bit reckless, as you put it Vector. And when that happened", the black echidna favoured Tails with a basilisk glare that broke the kit out in a cold sweat, "something went very wrong indeed".

XXX

Eventually, once Kommissar had eventually proven her sight had returned by counting how many fingers Kragok had raised (though he had tried to argue she'd got it wrong by pointing out he was using his claw rather than a hand; Dimitri had quashed that argument by a slap to the back of the head, eliciting another almost-smile from Amy), the four Mobians had adjourned to what had at one time been a kitchen or a mess-type area. Dispatching his grandchildren to see what food and drink was available, the eldest echidna slumped down in a chair opposite Amy and sighed,

"It's good to be back".

"Back where?" He started at the voice; it was completely flat, colourless and absolutely devoid of any hint of emotion, but it had definitely been Amy speaking. _Thank the spirits – she recovers at once – such fortitude and force of will_; after taking a silent second to marvel at the resilience of his former host, Dimitri answered,

"This is, something of a meeting place for me and my followers, though before I say too much, I will have to tell you a little story first". Amy rolled her head around to regard him squarely in the face and curled her lip,

"I'm not in the mood for fantasy at the minute".

"Good, because the story I shall tell you is true, every word of it", Amy heard the footsteps long before they arrived; pulling out chairs to flank both her and their great grandfather, Kragok and Kommissar sat down, steaming mugs of something held in their hands; they passed on to Dimitri, though Amy decline with a raised hand. Dimitri took a swig of the steaming, dark liquid and choked a little,

"Needs a little more sugar, but that is unimportant", he returned his eyes as much as was possible to Amy and his face grew serious, "what is important is that you understand the truth, I owe you that much at least. It began with the Master Emerald, and my work upon it; together with my brother, I laboured on the study of the great green stone; we did great things, he and I. With the aid of our creation, the Chaos Siphon, we managed to control the Master, make it obey our will rather than the other way around. The little ones were created from the Master, the jewels that were to be known as Chaos emeralds, crafted by my hands". _So this echidna, he claims to have created the Chaos emeralds_; Amy felt a little interest stir at this news – she guessed the Brotherhood would be very interested to know this information as Dimitri continued,

"Yes, the little ones helped us all; they made our civilisation great, yet there was one obstacle that could never be overcome, not even by the Chaos Emeralds, maybe not even by the Master, though it prolonged the onset. It claimed my, our, mother, and our grief was great; I resolved to find a way to defeat this monster, but my direction was pulled in other directions", a sneer of disdain twisted the venerable echidna's lips as he spat the next words, "they wanted me to return my little ones to the Master; they wanted myself and Edmund to sacrifice our creations for the supposed good of all – how blinkered they were to suggest such a thing, and what fools were we to agree to it. Still, the decision was made, however much it hurt us; the Chaos Emeralds were loaded back into the machine that had birthed them, but then destiny called, and my final desire was granted".

XXX

"No accurate recording exists to describe what actually happened; what we have ranges from a mighty bolt of lightning to a bright flash and a crack like a gunshot, followed by a slowly expanding green ball that collapsed in itself", Locke said the words with grim finality; despite trawling the records there had been nothing at all from that period, though he could well understand why – it wasn't exactly a good period of guardian history, "but the root of the matter was that, for some unknown reason, the Chaos Siphon malfunctioned; when the rescue teams arrived, they found Edmund lying comatose on the floor, with the Master on its side almost next to him in the wreckage. He was glowing a green colour, though, according to the few recorded transcripts we have that survived, the glow faded with time. There was no sign of either Dimitri or the remaining Chaos Emeralds".

"So what happened to him; was he killed?"

"Sadly not", Sojourner cut in bitterly, shaking his head as the memories of the past few hours came back to him clearly, "but at the time nothing was known; Edmund was taken as the only survivor and Dimitri mourned as dead. However, once he recovered consciousness, it became clear that whatever had happened with the Chaos Siphon had, quite literally, left a mark on both Edmund's body and his mind", he suddenly rounded on his fifth-son, pointing him out with a finger, face dark and sorrowful, "he grew stronger and aged much less quickly than other echidnas; my apologies for this Knuckles; I wish it could be private, but you and your friends must know now together". Uncomfortable prickles needled the guardians mind; fighting down the apprehension in his voice, he asked the fatal question,

"I must know what?" Locke took a step forwards, popping off the buttons on his lab coat as he moved, letting it fall open and revealing his chest,

"The mark that was made on Edmund, is the same that all his descendents bear; the crest of our ancestry", before the realisation could fully dawn, the father of the current guardian finished, "the mark of the guardians".

XXX

"Oh, it was glorious", Dimitri's face was dreaming, reliving the sweetest memory of his past as Amy watched on, a sliver of interest now possibly apparent on her face, "the power of the little ones, redirected into me through the power of the siphon; such things I saw, such secrets were revealed. My one true desire was revealed, the secret I needed to know more than any other was made plain to me and…"

"What's that?" Kommissar broke in suddenly; she'd heard this story so often in the past it failed to hold her interest, so her eyes had taken to wandering and, like a magpie, had been drawn to the nearest flash of gold; Amy turned her head to regard the female echidna with flinty eyes,

"It's called a piercing; it's fashionable, something I doubt you've ever been". Despite the recent coolness of her heart, the hedgehog was able to soak up a modicum of enjoyment at the way the echidna's nostrils flared and her cheeks coloured in anger.

"Now look here you…"

"No Lien, you look", Dimitri snarled at the interruption, forcing his great granddaughter back into her seat with a touch of his newly rediscovered powers, "she is my guest, here at my invitation, and, as my position within the legion is much stronger than yours, you will be civil to her, is that understood?" He gently twisted the spines held in his telekinetic grip until Kragok, noticing tears starting to form in his comrades eyes, stepped in to pour oil over the troubled waters,

"Forgive me grandfather, but I must confess the implant had attracted my curiosity; you know how Lien lacks the ability to keep her thoughts confined to her head, it was only natural she speak first". There was a very pregnant pause, until with a gasp Kommissar was released from the hold with a stinging rebuke,

"Be grateful to your brother Lien-Da; at least one of you inherited a measure of common sense". There was anger and shame in her return gaze, though this time she wisely held her tongue and merely nodded, dropping her gaze the second Dimitri looked away.

"Your sister?" Amy inquired non-commitally, jerking her head towards the shamed Kommissar as Dimitri nodded, sighing his impatience at his granddaughter's seeming immaturity;_ I'll increase her training at the next opportunity – for a lady of twenty she shows precious few signs of development – I think it must all have gone to her brother_.

"Twins, though you'd never believe it looking at them".

"I see" was the answer he received before Amy nodded in his direction; _there's life in her eyes now – she heals so fast_…, "please continue".

"Of course; as I said, the siphon directed the energy released from the little ones into me, and the barriers were broken; for an instant, I saw how I could save everyone and conquer the final foe. All I needed was a little time to plan my strategy; some of the little ones were untouched by the siphon, and I gathered them to me. Their power allowed me to retreat to a place of sanctuary, and from there I began to plot the downfall of my greatest, final enemy".

"You mention him often", Amy commented, fixing the ancient echidna with a stern glare as she continued, perhaps, just perhaps, a hint of renewed fire just beginning to heat up in her belly once more as the relative normality of the conversation filtered through to her recently tormented mind, "who is he, and what reason do you have to hate him?"

The response was delayed for a few seconds, as though Dimitri couldn't quite take in what had just been said,

"My enemy, no, not mine, not mine at all", there were a few choked splutters as the ancient one spoke, eventually the laughter became too much and his laughter burst out loud, echoing throughout the hall, his voice joined by Kragok's as the joke seemed to break through to him as well; Amy, who was too confused and uncaring to join in, and Kommissar, who was too embarrassed to find anything funny, held their peace until the others could eventually regain control of themselves,

"Who, what does everyone fear?" Dimitri managed to stutter as the hysterics subsided, "what is the great eventuality for us all; if you need a reason for my loathing, he took my mother from me. Who is the one who comes in the end, when the world darkens, the breath stops and the heart is forever stilled?" Amy knew the answer and it chilled even her frozen heart; _he cannot be correct, nothing can stop, it can't be true…_

"Death".

"Precisely", Dimitri favoured the wall behind her with a wintry smile, as though daring a hidden horror to strike him down in response to his bold threat, "the powers of the little Chaos Emeralds let me see the way to wedge the jaws of death open forever".

XXX

The light in front of him swayed dangerously; he felt all at once detracted from his body and crushed to the spot, helpless and unable to escape the connect his blood had forged with the past. He was buoyed up by someone as his dry, shocked lips formed words he barely though about before speaking,

"My ancestors… the Chaos Emeralds?"

"Yes Knuckles, it's true", Locke spoke to his son, placing a hand on his shoulder as Charmy and Rouge both supported him, "we are the direct descendents of Edmund, the first guardian; to us has passed his duty and his burden – to guard the Master and protect it from harm. However it's not important under these circumstances; what is important is who he guarded the Master against".

"Who?" An expectant throng of voices chorused; the woeful ballard had gone on too long to be left unconcluded; mustering his last efforts, Spectre filed in the final pieces of the puzzle.

"Dimitri", waiting for the attention to shift back to him, the eldest guardian screwed up his face and exercised the cancer in his family history, "he didn't die when the Chaos Siphon exploded, but he was changed by it. There are theories as to how, but Edmund believed that exposure to such much raw Chaos energy had unhinged his prodigious mind even as it enhanced his natural powers, much as it had Edmunds. He hid for many years in the wilderness, but he eventually returned to seek out Edmund and speak of the things he claimed the Chaos Emeralds had shown him", Spectre remembered his meditations on this text and shuddered at the deep anger and hurt that resonated through the text, "when he returned, the younger brother spoke of a way to cheat death, to live forever; Edmund listened, and what he heard sickened him to his very soul – Dimitri would wilfully give up everything that made him Mobian to achieve nightmarish immortality in a metal shell".

XXX

"You have a way to conquer death?" Amy looked over at her host with a deadpan expression that somehow conveyed the barest hint of sceptism; _how many have not believed me in the past? Why do these others not see the way to defeat the inevitable?_

"Yes, the path was set before me; I had only to follow it. I began spreading my teachings to the others who would listen and of course, like yourself, there were those who did not believe", for a split-second Amy fancied she could see a hint of wolfish ire rise up in Dimitri's eyes as he grated, "much to my regret and annoyance, one of these was my brother himself – he rejected me, turned me aside and tried to convince me I was sick, that the enlightenment was truly just a mistake. Pah", the echidna slammed a spurred paw onto the table in front of him, making the cups jump, "how can the truth be lies? I know the way to save everyone from death, and I would, will, save them; when they feel the passing of years cease, they will turn to me in blissful gratitude. There has been and will be toil and strife to achieve this goal, there always will be". Amy felt scientific interest pique as he mentioned this potential trouble; _from what he's saying, it appears many people resisted his efforts to force them to adhere to these ideas_.

"Who fought you?"

"Who else?" Dimitri answered with a snarl, "my fool of a brother, Edmund; he declared me a false prophet, that death was a part of life and could not be destroyed. Idiot; in that instant I lost my respect for him – death is evil, it causes such loss and devastation, it can and must be fought, slain forever. So we quarrelled and fought; as I tried to save the other echidnas, so he threw them uncaringly to the jaws of death. Curse him to hell; may he resent the death he suffered in time forever".

"Why did he fight you; that must be my next question", Amy spoke carefully, realising that, now his gratitude for her releasing him seemed all but spent, she was still in danger and needed to avoid him getting angry for fear he may turn that rage to her, "how did you propose to save everyone?" To her surprise, rather than answer her directly, Dimitri waved a vague hand at Kragok; the younger echidna straightened instantly and once more Amy felt herself under the unremitting glare of that dread eye. Taking a second to see her reaction to his unsettling gaze and feeling mildly cheated when all she did was blink at the sudden light, Kragok spoke the words he had been indoctrinated with almost from birth,

"The flesh is weak, but the spirit is eternal; therefore the answer is simple", he grinned nastily as Amy felt the cold grip of fear once more; she could not have called herself mortal if she hadn't reacted to the dread implications veiled by his words; implications he made plain with his next, last statement, "the flesh must be cut out, replaced with something stronger; thus the spirit will endure until the end of time", the digits on his claw flexed as he withdrew it from under his cloak, the metal unblemished in the light as he finished, "steel endures; we shall emerge in new bodies, forged of steel and these shall blunt the scythe of the Grim Reaper himself".

XXX

"So, Dimitri proposed", Shadow spoke the words thickly, simultaneously nauseated and fascinated by what had been said, "that, in order to prevent death, he would, somehow replace the flesh, with metal implants?"

"That's what is written in our old records, but we can't be perfectly sure", Sojourner agreed, "but, if these writings are to be believed, there was a price to pay for this artificial immortality. Basically Dimitri was right; it is possible to live forever if you replace everything with a metallic prosthetic, but", he said the last word with heavy emphasis, taking time to make sure his point stuck, "though Dimitri was skilled in making these replacements, there was one thing he could never replicate, not even with his newly enhanced Chaos powers". At this point, Athair rose up above the throng, his normally eternally cheerful voice now cast into the pits of mourning as it rose like a banshee's wail.

"Our great-uncle could never duplicate the emotions of a functioning mind; the intricacies of love, joy, hatred and fear were lost forever. Though he tried to preserve them in his creations, he never managed to; they were replaced with computers and microchips. With each new metal bit, another part of the echidna's love died; some of the first echidnas to embrace his teachings were little more than sentient computer; innovation and imagination replaced with logic patterns and artificial technical battle plans. Dimitri swapped one death for another; the swift ceasing of life for eternal entombment within a robotic shell", tears dripped to the floor as the soft-hearted echidna was overcome for the moment, unable to continue. Everyone was consumed with their own point of view, aptly, if unwittingly, summed up by Charmy as the bee shook his head in revulsion,

"I think I'd rather just turn up my toes when the time came; compared to that, death's a mercy".

"But let me guess", Espio continued, his swift analysis of the Brotherhood's reactions allowing him to guess what had happened next, "Dimitri didn't see it that way?"

"He did not; he swore that he would save us all, and he was not alone in this; there were some in Echidnopolis who would listen and take up his offer. With him as their leader, these technocrats left the city and set up their own base of operations, somewhere in the mountains. Dimitri used his chaos powers to ensure this place was never discovered, he blanked the minds of those who found it and let them leave; he never killed if he could help it, such was his abhorrence of death. From here, with the aid of his 'Dark Legion', as those who followed him came to be known, he tried to wrest control of Echidnopolis and commit all within it to an eternity of mechanical perfection".

"Sounds like a right fruitcake", Cream couldn't make sense of this; trying to stop death by something even more horrid, "he wanted to turn everyone into robots to save them from dying?"

"Sadly this was so, and he would have succeeded, save for one thing; Edmund".

"He could stand against the Dark Legion?" Rouge asked, a slight light of hope beginning to flicker in her heart as she envisioned a hero of old holding back the tide of darkness.

"Not alone, but after the council of Echidnopolis realised the motives of the legion and the threat it posed, they unanimously agreed on the formation of the EST, a force designed to resist the legion. So began a game of cat and mouse that was to last for years, generations; waged in every possible field, the families of Edmund and Dimitri waged war on each other, struggling for the very souls of the Angel Island. For most of the time, at least in physical combat, Edmund had a crucial advantage; the Master Emerald itself".

Tails though hard about this statement before snapping his fingers, realising the trump card the first guardian must have held,

"Of course, Dimitri only had the Chaos Emeralds; we all know that they're not as strong as the Master, and now we know why – they're actually all part of it and so weaker alone. If Edmund had the Master Emerald, Dimitri couldn't have hoped to beat him alone with the Chaos Emeralds". Locke let out a slight chuckle at the foxboy's grasp of the situation before turning serious again,

"Quite so; for a long time, Dimitri was held in check by the power of the Master and those blessed with its gifts. It appeared that Edmund's powers were vertically transmitted; his sons and daughters were blessed with the same gifts he was; thus the guardian powers were begun. Edmund was titled guardian by the council for his actions to protect the city, and Haven was built to house the families of the guardians; Edmund ensured it remained secret by removing the location of the base from those who constructed it. Yet, for all this, he knew it was not enough; his unique gift, the first recorded, was that of prophesy, and the knowledge of what was to come frightened him, but he knew he could do nothing to prevent it". Face shrouded by the shadows cast by his robe, Spectre bowed his head, reliving the struggles of his ancestor as he had when his writings had filtered through his mind,

"He knew Dimitri had found a way to rebuilt the Chaos Siphon; Edmund guessed his intention and had his son shield what he thought the target would be with his own unique powers; the shrine of the Master was consecrated with the glyphs of protection you are all immune to. Dimitri was still susceptible to these glyphs, but that did not matter, for Edmund had been mistaken", there was a collection of gasps as the tale reached its end; the black echidna had them all on the hook by now, "Dimitri didn't want to use the Siphon on the Master; he turned its power on his own energy, his own flesh. By sacrificing some of his own absorbed energy and maybe part of his own life as well, he created his ultimate weapon, with power to rival the Master Emerald itself. It was a great red ruby, something more than a mere Chaos Emerald, forged from Dimitri's own body and flesh, and he christened it the Bloodstone".

XXX

Amy felt her mind blank once more at the sheer horror of what she'd done; _all those echidnas, all innocent, all at the mercy of this monster and his warped devotion to this creed of robotics_. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as the full impact crashed down on her, and once more all she could do was think of herself,

"So, so what will you do with me? Are you going to…"

"Of course not", Kommissar snapped at her bad-temperedly, though thankfully she managed to salvage the situation before Dimitri could turn his full attention on her, "we give all a choice to accept our ways; they'll come round in time. I take it you're not interested?" Unable to answer, speech robbed from her by mute unfeelingness, the pink hedgehog merely nodded, causing Dimitri to sigh wearily,

"I can't say I am not saddened Amy, but the choice is yours", he brought up one mailed hand and a crimson glow surrounded it, the sheen sinking into Amy's tired eyes as the co-creator of the Chaos Emeralds extended his powers to her, "now sleep and rest; your part in this crusade is played". Helpless, wanting only for the torment to end and the nightmare to cease, there was no resistance, there could be no resistance; almost immediately, Amy was carried away in a cold unconsciousness.

As the pink hedgehog's head sank to the tabletop, Kragok made to rise from his seat, a shark-like smile exposing his uneven teeth,

"So be it grandfather, I shall make the necessary preparations and we shall be ready to move out and crush the guardians at your command".

"You shall do no such thing", Dimitri told him, also rising from his seat as Kragok looked on dismayed,

"But grandmaster, even now we lose time; there…"

"Is time enough Kragok", there was definite challenge in his voice now, his pupils still continued their ceaseless movement but the rest of his face trained on that on his grandsons', "I shall decide when to attack, and I shall be the one to do so; with the Bloodstone in my possession, none of the guardians can oppose me. Besides", there was a slight flick of his gaze to Amy's comatose form and his expression softened, something like concern and affection entering his emotions, "I still have business with Amy and I am bound by a promise I made her".

"You", Kragok stuttered as he tried to take this in; _the grandmaster of the Dark Legion, held to oath by an inferior being?_ "you have promised her what?"

"That is not your concern", Dimitri stated firmly as he reached down and carefully gathered Amy into his arms, issuing his final orders as he did so, "you and Kommissar are to travel to Necronopolis and awaken the rest of the Legion; wait there for further orders once this is completed. Understood?"

"Of course grandmaster", Kragok gave another stiff bow, echoed by his sister's slight curtsy as the younger Mobian finished, "we shall not fail you".

"Good; make it so". With that and a flare of emerald power, Dimitri was gone from the chamber, from the base and from Angel Island itself, leaving his grandchildren to muster the rest of his forces as he waited for his final task to appear.

XXX

"The Bloodstone", Knuckles spoke, the very name conjuring up images of heathen ceremonies and ritual sacrifice, though these were banished as Spectre's voice boomed once more, finally finished the story of the guardians,

"Yes, this great jewel made the contest much more perilous, so Edmund made one final gamble; taking the Master, he issued a challenge to Dimitri directly. A duel to the death, winner take all – the two brothers met for the final time on the ground where it had all begun, the ruins of their scientific lab, the birthplace of such hope, and the graveyard of their dreams. But it was here the salvation of the rest of Angel Island was assured; before the duel began, the brothers made an ancient pact; for the first and last time, the Master Emerald and the Bloodstone were used in concert; the combined energy sealed away the rest of Angel Island; it was move out of phase with the rest of the world, protected from the battle that was to follow".

"It was an exile, not a loss", Shadow's eyes crackled like warm fire as the reason behind the disappearance of the echidna civilisation was made plain, "Edmund and Dimitri banished the echidnas to save them".

"Yes, Dimitri craved a release from mortality, and was sane enough to realise the energy released from the battle would have been great enough to kill a large number of innocents", Thunderhawk broke in to answer, head bowed as the folly of his ancestors was made plain to all, shame whipping at him like a tongue of fire in front of these strangers, "and there was such a war; a clash of titans, Dimitri fighting for warped perfection, Edmund to stop him, and in the end, when the smoke cleared, there was no clear winner".

Speed was essential here; before the questions could flow, Sabre managed to head them off,

"Transcripts from the aftermath are all that remain; Edmund reappeared in Haven, feverish and near death, fragmented prophecies spilling from his lips as he remained in a dream state he never emerged from – death claimed him in the end. His last words were recorded by his great grandchildren, sorrow in their hearts and tears staining the pages as they forced themselves to copy the words the first guardian spoke on his deathbed. It's one of these passages that has concerned us recently; one of them that spoke of Dimitri's eventual return".

"You knew!" Knuckles pointed at his grandfather, fury coursing through his veins as the callousness of their actions bit deeply into him, "the guardians knew he was out there, and they did nothing! Why didn't they go after him, hunt him down…"

"They wanted peace!" The fact it was Athair shouting did more to stop Knuckles' tirade than anything else, the third-father looking stricken through his tears, "the war with Dimitri had raged for many years, at least three or four generations, and that was in guardian years. The EST, the guardians, they just wanted to forget about it, they were sick of the fighting; Dimitri was gone and all they had to predict his return were the ravings of a badly wounded old man. It was a mistake not to chase the serpent when they had the chance we can see that now, but they can't be held responsible, not after all they'd been forced to endure. Can you understand that, all of you; after a war spanning decades, there's a chance for peace, could you honestly turn it down?" There was a moment's silence, then a murmur rippled its way through the crowd, mournful for the suffering of the past,

"No", Cream sniffled at the thoughts of fighting, for that long and without respite, "not after that; they couldn't go on".

"No, they couldn't", Spectre agreed with her, tears of regret now in his own eyes as he realised this was where it would really hurt them, this warning was what had affected them all, "but, the prophecy, had been fulfilled now; Dimitri has returned, and he has the Bloodstone again".

"How do you know that? Can you prove it?" Rouge searched for some loophole that could be used to prove the old guardian wrong, but Sojourner, for once talking to her like she was an equal, shook his head,

"No; I felt his return, and Amy", there was a sudden pricking up of ears as the pink hedgehog's name was mentioned, "Amy was helpless, right in the middle of it; from destiny ascending, the gem of blood calls the child of thorns to release that which was bound and culminate the cataclysm".

As the words echoed through the suddenly still air, Spectre moved his hand and the roll of parchment was pinned against the wall; the ebony echidna suddenly looked and felt his true age as he shuffled forwards, speaking into the silence as he quickly picked out the bit of the map he needed,

"Those were the words left to us by the ancients, but now, too late", he snarled at himself, at his own failings causing this to happen, "we can decipher at least part of it; this map was drawn in the time of Edmund, when the echidnas did have a vague knowledge of some of the surface world, though only specific parts of it", a white gloved finger tapped part of the faded parchment and everyone craned in for a look at the faint, almost illegible words highlighted by his digit. Vector straightened up, for once his eyes mournful as he came to same conclusion Spectre had reached,

"From destiny ascending", he jerked his head at the map, "Mount Fate, the gem of blood, I assume it's the Bloodstone, called Amy Rose to release the rest of Angel Island, bound by both the Master and the Bloodstone, and culminate the cataclysm", as the others took this dreadful news in, the crocodile fixed Spectre with a look, "any idea about the last part?"

"No, and that is what worries me most". It was into a heady, potent mix of anxiety, nervousness and fear that something powerful awoke and took root; like a boiler being lit, life and resolve flooded into one Mobian as the scale of the deception was revealed to him.

"The cataclysm", everyone turned at this new voice; it was the first time Sonic had spoken since the tale had begun; Espio was closest to the blue hedgehog and shrank back in fear as he stepped forwards; _his face, he looks ready to kill something_, "is what will happen when I get hold of Dimitri and kick his ass so hard all of you lot will feel it", he snarled, indicating the rest of the Brotherhood; Dimitri's ancient descendents the others realised later "no-one messes Amy around like this; not Eggman, not Metal Sonic and certainly not some fanatical freak with a fear of death". The others looked aghast at this; Sonic sounded like he meant every word he said and, more importantly, had the look of someone who could do it too. In fact it was Thunderhawk, his fighting spirit reignited by the hedgehog's harsh words, who recovered the impetuous first,

"Good", the lavender echidna strode forwards and clapped Sonic's shoulder, "that's the spirit we'll need now, because this isn't over yet". There was a flick of bottle green eyes that caused the sixth-father to sigh,

"Spectre's being meditating on this prophesy since we realised what was happening, and, well, I'll let him speak for himself". Taking a cue from his son, the black echidna made plain to all the fruits of his labours,

"By meditating on the prophecy, I managed to discover that Dimitri had been destroyed by the battle with Edmund, but his soul persisted within the Bloodstone itself. Thus he was held in limbo within his final weapon, unable to do anything until he could be released. I also realised that two calls would be made by the Bloodstone and from each of them something would be released; the first, which I believe was when Amy went with you three", he indicated the Chaotix, "to Mount Fate; in answer to this call, the lost city of Echidnopolis was brought back, along with us. However, as well as this, part of Dimitri was released as well. He was weak and helpless, but, and I can't be sure of this, I think he may have existed within Amy's thoughts…"

"He did _what!_" Sonic's bellow drowned out all other voices, his eyes slitted and spines extended as he realised what Spectre was saying, "you mean that slimy son of a bitch, went into her?"

"Yes; he may have remained there until he had regained the strength to call again; he did that tonight – he was the one who attacked Athair, not Amy". Sonic was done listening by now; he was virtually glowing with rage as the thought of what might be happening to Amy; _she doesn't deserve – I should have been faster_. Grinding his teeth together, Sonic growled into the silence,

"When I find him, he will pray for death long before he suffers it".

"Got some good news for you then", Spectre smiled sarcastically; this was not the time for empty chest-beating, however well-founded it was, "because Dimitri is going to come here".

XXX

Fortunately, his memory had not failed him; he recognised the surroundings as he rematerialised within them, Amy still held limply in his arms. Away from his grandchildren, he was finally free to express his emotions; he needed to talk to his former host one-on-one, partly to explain a few details he hadn't wanted Kragok and Kommissar to be privy to, and secondly he could still help her. _I know you still blame yourself for what happened_; Dimitri thought mournfully as he set the pink hedgehog, still clad in the pyjamas supplied to her from the Brotherhood, down in her bed, pulling the covers up to her chin as he brushed a few stray quills back behind her ears; _there's no blame for you to shoulder – I will try to show you that when you awaken._ Dimitri felt a sad smile spread onto his face as he stood immobile for a second, profound melancholy in his manner as he gazed down upon the sleeping Amy; _by the suffering of one I can save thousands, but why was it this one who had to suffer? Curse you Edmund_; the grandmaster of the Dark Legion curled his free hand into a fist, silently ranting at is deceased brother as he realised, had Edmund simply seen the truth behind his conviction to crush death forever, all this could have been avoided. Still, there was no point reminiscing about the past; all he could do now was try to pick up the pieces; with that in mind, the echidna softly span around and crept out of Amy's bedroom, leaving her resting, oblivious to what awaited when she regained her senses.

XXX

Spectre had finished his explanations, and the responses were both horrified and shocked; that Amy had been parasitized like this, controlled without her knowledge, was terrible enough, but to know that Dimitri had used her memories to breach the ancient protection of both the guardian's haven and more importantly, the shrine of the Master Emerald, was calamitous – after all, as Tails had pointed out, Amy had used a Chaos Control; where else was there a Chaos Emerald left on Angel Island? Knuckles was almost beside himself knowing that the Master was under threat from a crazed maniac who at the same time was a member of his very extended family.

"But he will come here first", Spectre had said, grim finality in his tone as the other guardians rallied around him, "he knows where we are and he had the Bloodstone; he will think he has a chance to strike at us now while we are divided and finish this battle once and for all".

"Let him come"; _now it's the time for chest-beating_; Spectre found himself actually relieved to hear Sonic's voice, offering hope in the battle that was sure to be coming, "we're all here and we've all got something to fight for", he turned to face everyone else, his familiar battle grin back on his face, though those who knew the blue hedgehog best may have just seen a hint of worry in the normally fearless expression, "get ready guys; just like old times". There were a few gruff chuckles at this, most of the attention fixed away from Sonic as everyone began to try and prepare for the forthcoming invasion; die to this, no-one saw the flash of pain that lanced through Sonic's expression as he turned away; _I failed you Amy, I let you be taken_; his lethal spikes bristled as he set his teeth, eyes glittering with concentrated, cold fire again; _but I promise you this – when Dimitri arrives here, the last thing he tells me before I put his lights out for good will be what happened to you. And when I know, nothing will stop me coming for you and telling you the truth. Don't let go, you can't – I, I love you._

A/N: The die is cast; can the guardians stop the resurgent Dimitri and the power of the Bloodstone, even with the help of a monumentally hacked-off Sonic and his friends? Can Amy ever forgive herself, and what will Dimitri say to her? Next chapter folks.


	25. Chapter 24 Tears and Rain

Chapter 24 – Tears and Rain.

A/N: This chapter does all the talking; I'm just here to say thanks:

HHH – Glad you enjoyed reading it as I did writing it, just one question though – what's the four boxes checked thing mean?

Komodo – Well, my writing style doesn't appeal to everyone and I'm first to admit that – I'm very descriptive and this can drag.

TH – Put Dimitri down; I need him for this chapter, and besides you don't know where he's been. Go and work out that Red Bull high in the trampoline room and, oh, wait, Spectre asked me to dictate a message: don't give Athair any Red Bull or else…oh my God, that's DEPRAVED! For your sanity and mine I can't repeat what he just threatened, but let's just say electromagnets were involved…

_She drifted in the darkness; it wasn't scary, but nor was it comforting – it simply…was._

_She couldn't see anything, not even the rest of her own body as she twisted to look down at it. There appeared to be no gravity here; she could tumble and roll without impediment, but she felt a gnawing need even as she did so. She was not supposed to be here, this was artificial – there was somewhere else she needed to be, something else she had to do. _

_"But what?" She spoke into the blackness surrounding her, the inky atmosphere simply swallowing her voice completely it failed to reach her ears and there was no reply. She struggled more fiercely now, thrashing against the cocoon she was bound within, her fists and feet striking out against the imprisoning blackness as the fires of need, cold, hungry and all-consuming, leapt up in her chest; there was something else, no, someone, she remembered with a gasp. Someone had placed her here, but why? What warranted her banishment to this place of nothingness? Determination rearing up inside her, Amy fought harder to escape and seek the answers she craved and feared at the same time_.

XXX

He heard the muffled sounds of increased movement, struggling from the sounds of it, through the partially closed bedroom door at the same time he felt the power he had used dim. _Still, I didn't want her under for too long_; Dimitri nodded to himself as he slipped off his armoured gauntlets and gently eased the helmet off his head, shaking his dreadlocked spines out to fan across his shoulders; _though I do want to talk to her, I can't take too long – Kragok was right, even I can't afford to dally too much, the guardians have an unfortunate knack of getting organised at very short notice._ As he felt the last vestiges of the energy he had expended on drawing Amy into a temporary catatonia dissipate to nothing, he realised the time was close and mentally prepared himself, running the words he had formulated over and over in his head again as he reached over and flicked on the kettle.

XXX

With a final, violent lurch, Amy snapped open her bloodshot eyes and twisted over in bed, ending up almost nose to nose with her alarm clock. As the red lights blinked in he vision, the hedgehog screwed her eyes up, trying to clear her fuzzy head as she yawned, still feeling bone-tired, as though she hadn't slept at all for days. She brought her hands up to massage her eyes, feeling the sleep itch against her tear ducts, for some reason, the corner of her eyes ached as she rubbed the dried up tears to powder against her eyelids. She yawned once more, wondering if she had to go to work today, then blinked her eyes open, clearing her swimming vision to look down at herself.

It was then she froze.

_I'm wearing pyjamas_; throwing back the covers, she looked down at the material covering her whole body, confusion warring with definite unease; _I never wear pyjamas – I wear a night gown_. Desperate, she tried to remember back to what had happened; as though they had been waiting all along, the memories rushed back to her, slicing into her sensations of peace as rending claws normally tear through thin fabric.

Her hands flew to her mouth, her hands, she noticed appalled, still dotted with the dried blood from sweet Athair, most gentle and loving of the guardians, who she had attacked, been forced to attack, to help a monster. _And I released him, I set Dimitri free_; intestines knotting into a cold, hard ball, Amy felt tears flow once more from her, a low moan of utter horror escaping her lips as everything, _everything_, that had been said by Dimitri and his infernal descendents came back to her. She felt nothing but despair; by believing his lies and the selfish, selfish desire to be free of the beast in her head, she had brought doom to Angel Island and all who dwelt upon it. _They're all there_; Amy collapsed back into her bed, misery shredding everything positive in her life; _all my friends, Sonic, Cream, Tails, all of them, at the mercy of that crazed echidna and his stupid beliefs – I've put them in danger, just because I wanted him to get out of my head._

The coldness came for her again, her emotions extinguished like candles in a gale and yet they were not; for some ineffable reason, she carried on feeling the hurt, the pain, the complete worthlessness she directed at herself; she couldn't shut off. _Anything's better than this – Dimitri should have…but then he wouldn't_; Amy pummelled her pillow, the awful knowledge that the thing she had released had let her carry on living, carry on hating herself for her forced actions, maybe knowing she could never forgive herself, surely that was a sadist's trick. Fortunately, her dire train of thought was derailed by a simple, little thing; from outside her door, she heard a click and a rumbling sound, the unmistakable sound of a kettle boiling.

Anger filled her; she remembered refusing the offer of joining his cult of the machine before she fell into the darkness she'd just fought her way out from. Who else could it be – was he here to see her misery, to feed on her guilt and sorrow. _Well, there's nothing for you here_; she embraced the anger, let it empower her for it was easier to stomach that guilt. With her new found strength, she threw herself off her bed and onto the floor, not even pausing to pick up her Piko Piko Hammer in her haste to face this demon for the last time. She had been weak once and let him win, but there would be no repeat of that weakness, not now; defiance, even as futile as it was now, would be her final gift to Dimitri, grandmaster of the Dark Legion.

XXX

He hear her footsteps and realised from the sound of them alone that she was furious; good, rather that than depressed and hopeless. For a spilt-second Dimitri was unsure if what he was doing was the right thing; should he really show his face here, risk upsetting her again? As he tried to make up his divided mind, the decision was suddenly reached for him; with a bang, the door to the kitchen was thrown wide open and Amy was framed within it, her eyes hard and dangerous as she pointed a threatening finger at the echidna trespassing in her home.

"What the living hell do you think you are doing here?" Luckily, his speech didn't leave him, not even in the shock that flooded him; he'd never seen aggression so naked, not even in the eyes of his brother during the final fight. Hefting the two cups he'd poured out, keeping an eye on her movements, Dimitri gestured gently towards the table,

"Sit down Amy". Her finger wavered; resolve uncertain; had he really just said that?

"What did you say?"

"I asked you to sit down", the echidna pulled out a chair for himself as he deposited both the cups on the table, beckoning to her, "I needed to speak to you, privately, away from the prying ears of my great grandchildren". Her lip quivered for an instant, but then he saw it and braced himself for the storm.

"Talk!" Amy shrieked; Dimitri suddenly felt very glad he'd thought to used some of his powers to sound-proof this apartment; the last thing this situation would need would be a knock on the door from some busybody neighbour wanting to know what the shouting was about, "what have you got to talk about? You used me; you forced me to betray everyone; I hate you, I'll always hate you. I wish you…you'd just…" words failed her; she leapt forwards, eyes aflame with the desire to maim, to inflict hurt upon him as he had upon her.

Holding in a sad sigh, he raised a hand, the crimson glow surrounding it again; Amy felt herself freeze against her will, nothing in her body moved despite her will. She resisted, muscles straining and sweat erupting from every pore as she tried to concentrate all her loathing into movement, something that could be used to set her guilty conscience to rest once more. Yet even as she struggled motionlessly, she heard Dimitri speak once more, his voice calm amidst the chaos,

"I know what you wish for me, and I do not blame you in the slightest; I have used you, hurt you terribly and there is no punishment severe enough for that heinous act". Amy felt her mouth released from whatever he was using to hold her in place,

"So why are you here?" She spat the words like a machine gun spits out hot lead, "why did you bring me here; to laugh, to gloat that you won? To tell me what you'd do…"

"Never!"

For a second Amy was cowed into submission; Dimitri had shot to his feet in a fury, the grip around her tightening painfully as his anger was conveyed through his power. Both his tracing pupils rounded on her and she gasped; there was anger there, true enough, but pain also, and deep, deep remorse. Under the gaze of that unnatural face, Amy felt her own anger drain out of her like water down a plughole; _he can't be lying, he can't fake his emotions that well_. Consciously reminding himself to loosed him telekinetic grip to avoid hurting the hedgehog accidentally, Dimitri began,

"I do not want to hurt you Amy, any more than I already have. I knew I needed freedom but to gain it I would have to harm you, coerce you into acts you found abhorrent, just because you're that type of person. I meant what I said down in the chamber; I respected you then and if anything I respect you even more now – the fact you're arguing with me proves your strength of character; a weaker person would never have found the courage to face me like you are. I hated doing what I did, not because I didn't want to be set free, but because in doing so I hurt someone I knew didn't deserve it", he paused to take a breath, noticing with relief that his words were having an effect on her anger and implacable fury, "and you didn't deserve it Amy; if nothing else of this conversation registers, remember this – I am sorry, for what I forced you to do".

XXX

_He's not lying_; that one thought reverberated around and around in Amy's mind like a ping pong ball, breaking her anger apart and by doing so, sending her deep into confusion – what was she supposed to feel now? Unlike Eggman, who had been all too plain and callous in his desire to use Amy amongst others to further his own goals, Dimitri was regretful, really regretful, for manipulating her. Against Eggman she had felt anger and disgust because he had never apologised for his actions, not even at the time of his capture with Nack ready to take him apart with his bare hands; the bad guy apologising was as far out the bathtub as it was possible for Amy to think. _Besides that_; Amy let her head drop a little as she recalled the other main difference between past kidnaps and this successful attempt; _with the egg, I could always rely on Sonic or the others to rescue me – now I'm completely on my own_. She was so caught up in her confusion that it took a few minutes to realise that she was subconsciously scratching one of her ears; she glanced at her hand and then at Dimitri,

"Sit down Amy", the echidna repeated, pointing at the seat opposite him, weariness now in his manner, though whether this was due to Amy's obtuseness up to this point or just general tiredness the hedgehog couldn't tell. Pulling out her seat, keeping her senses sharp for any chance of treachery, she took her place at the table and asked her own question, tone guarded and suspicious,

"So, why did you bring me here? What else do you want?" He didn't answer at once; instead, he flicked two of his fingers over his shoulder and caused the two mugs on the side of the kitchen unit to float over to the table obediently. Hoisting them out of the air, Dimitri examined each and, with a smile, passed one over,

"White, just one sugar", he announced, watching as the shocked hedgehog wrapped a hand around the warm cup and mechanically took a sip, "did I get it right?"

"Yeah", she replied breathlessly, shocked at how normal yet extraordinary this scenario was; _this guy kidnapped me, controlled me and downright freaked me out, and now he's drinking coffee with me and chatting normally?_ Satisfied with her response, Dimitri leaned back in his seat and spoke again,

"Now, to answer your questions; why bring you here? Simple; this is your home", he explained as Amy's eyes widened alarmingly, "I saw in your face that you, ah, don't agree with my teachings yet and that is perfectly understandable – there will always be struggles in the face of the truth, it's the way of things. But I digress", he corrected himself; he remembered he hadn't come here for a theological debate, "I knew you were uncomfortable with me and to a lesser extent my grandchildren as well, so I needed to take you somewhere safe, where you could feel protected and, and begin to heal from my, actions", he looked at her directly now, earnest in his next request, "and that is what I want Amy; I want you to recover from what I was forced to put you through – I want the girl I was melded with, the Amy Rose I know, to come back".

Maybe that was the second that it truly sank in; the words, combined with the complete honesty in Dimitri's face, combined to finally convince Amy that this was the truth – Dimitri simply didn't want to hurt her any more than he had to. And now he was free, he simply wanted her to get over what he'd done. For a second Amy felt a sudden surge of gratitude towards him, but that was replaced almost immediately by sudden worry as her concern for herself was replaced by concern for others.

"What about…"

"My word is stone", Dimitri reminded her sharply, maybe aggrieved that she didn't trust him, "our pact remains; I shall not harm any who oppose me any more than I have to; there will be bloodshed as people resist my efforts at salvation, but I will do all in my power to ensure it remains as little as possible".

"So what will you do then?" Amy felt the question leave her lips almost before she'd thought of it, "you have to beat the guardians, how can you do that? How will you stop them?" _I've got to know – how terrible can you be to them Dimitri? What manner of creature are you?_

"I thought about that for a long time Amy", the older Mobian drained some more of his coffee as he composed himself to deliver his answer, "I must neutralise the guardian threat posed by my brother's descendents, the most recent of which, by the way, is Knuckles".

"Knuckles?" It felt like she hadn't heard the name in years, but at the mention of the echidna Amy suddenly felt the memories flow back to her like they'd never been forgotten, "wait, your brother", Dimitri nodded, watching her make the connections with a wry smile, "that means, he's, Knuckles…"

"Is my great nephew God-alone-knows how many generations removed, as are all the Brotherhood", Dimitri finished for her smoothly before shaking his head and getting back to business, "but that's not important, what is important is that he and his grandfathers are a threat to me. As such, I will have to remove them as a threat".

"How?" A hundred horror scenarios darted through her mind, each more gruesome and unpleasant than the last as he tested the boundaries of his oath to the limit; _please don't hurt them…_

"I have a way", Dimitri turned his head away, not meeting her eyes as he continued, "I remember the device that we, Edmund and I, used to create the Chaos Emeralds; it was named the Chaos Siphon. I reconstructed and used the device once to create the Bloodstone from my own absorbed little ones and my own power; I shall do so again to remove the powers of the Master Emerald from Edmund's descendents and so end our struggle forever".

Amy flushed first hot, then as cold as though she'd been dipped in liquid oxygen; could Dimitri really do what he proposed? _If he can_; she licked suddenly dry lips, mind blanking again as she jumped to heinous conclusions; _he'll take their power, then turn them into unfeeling robots as well, to save them all from death. Without the guardians, the Master's at risk and no-one will be able to stop him_.

"And, and the others?"

"Some of them can utilise Chaos energy; the black hedgehog Shadow is remarkably adept from what I can tell of such things, though for some reason he chooses to repress such a strong gift", in his mind, the echidna was grateful when she didn't press as to how he knew about Shadow's unusual past, "the same will be done to them, but no more; I will eliminate the threat they pose, then they may do as they choose".

"So, you'll just turn them in robots?" Amy said lifelessly; Dimitri saw her expression blank and, reacting on instincts that had been long dormant, reached across the table and softly took her hand in his, taking care to keep his lethal spurs well away from her.

There was a twitch, but Amy didn't pull away directly, merely staring from the entwined hands to him and back again, mouth hanging open in disbelief. For a long minute, both Mobians were immobile, neither daring to break the contact; Dimitri almost thought he felt her give a very gentle, almost imperceptible squeeze; _possible subconscious gratitude for the contact_; before finally came back to her senses and snatched her hand back, nearly knocking her chair over as she shot to her feet, spines extending in rage as she bristled,

"Don't touch me, don't you ever touch me you…"

"Good", Dimitri also rose and planted his hands on the table top, meeting her glare as much as was possible for his uncontrollable pupils, "get angry; I had to do that because it saved you from depression", Amy's confusion returned to drown her anger as the echidna continued, "you're hurt because you think this is all your fault, well listen to me Amy – I came here to deliver three things. Firstly, an apology for treating you the way I did, second, my assurance that your friends, and anyone else for that matter, would be treated as gently as possible if they stood against me, and lastly I came here to say this; what happened was not your fault".

_Not my fault_; for the first time in too long, the pink hedgehog felt a tiny, fluttering spark of hope flicker in her chest – she was being forgiven, no matter that it was by the beast she had unleashed, she was being given the chance to unburden some of the guilt weighing down her soul. It was a hope she grasped and drank deep from as Dimitri continued,

"The power of the Bloodstone is great, as strong as that of the Master Emerald. When I called, I used its power to ensure you would answer – against it you stood no chance at all. How many could stand against Knuckles when he was powered up by the Master into his hyper form, and yes I did see that from your memories before you ask? You see", Dimitri looked at her once more in earnest, needing her to see and understand what he was saying, "against the full power of the Bloodstone, you could do nothing; you had no choice but to come to me. The Bloodstone was created from my own flesh and the little ones I bear; there's no stopping something that strong. No who know what the Chaos Emeralds are could condemn you; not the guardians, not the EST and certainly not your friends; the only one who must forgive you, is yourself".

The words hit her hard, and she knew there was truth in them; much as she would like to disbelieve otherwise; she couldn't have stopped dreaming her way to the Bloodstone, it would have driven her mad had she ignored them. _But I can't_; Amy thought for a fleeting instant about what she'd done and how many people she'd put in danger by doing it, and all thoughts of forgiveness were dashed; _I should have been stronger, I'll always think that – no matter what anyone says, I can't forgive myself._ Amy looked up, tears marring her eyes and Dimitri knew it was over; he had done what he could, what happened next was up to her; she'd either forgive herself and move on, or fail to and fall behind. Standing up, the echidna bowed is head in deference,

"I'll go now".

"Wait", the tone was serious and sharp as the hedgehog looked up at him, "will you turn them all into robots, save them all from death?"

"They'll come round in time", he said evasively, not meeting her eyes as he continued, "we are making progress on restoring artificial emotions, some time in the future we may be able to upload them into the saved ones, but I must save them all first. There is no fate worse than death – one day, when everyone is spared from its clutch, people will realise I was right, and I will receive the thanks I am due". With that, the red glow surrounded him once more, his outline was blurred and then vanished completely; Amy didn't even blink as the grandmaster of the Dark Legion simply disappeared out of her life, leaving her at the mercy of her own sense of judgement.

For how long she remained there, at her own kitchen table, staring blankly at the cup of coffee Dimitri had made for her, she didn't know. She simply observed as the steam rising from the cup slowed and then ceased altogether, but still she didn't move, torn between what to do next. Part of her, a big part, wanted to seize the cup and dash it to ruin against the nearest wall, yelling a curse on Dimitri for all time for what he'd done, what he was going to do to Angel Island. But at the same time, a second part demanded she drink, taste the bitter poison she had released on others, take a measure of their suffering in their stead. Still more of her wanted to retreat, withdraw into somewhere safe and quiet and never come out, while another facet of her personality wanted revenge, wanted to seek Dimitri out and absolve her shame forever – then she could be forgiven for her trespasses. Thoughts flew and clashed within her mind but still she did nothing, watching on uncaringly as the coffee in the cup grew cold and a skin began to form on the surface. It was only when fingers of light began to claw their way into the drab atmosphere of the kitchen that the sole occupant reacted; standing slowly, Amy made her way into her bedroom, still unseeing, still undecided as to what to do next, unaware that something would make her mind up for her.

It struck her she wandered into her room, stood proudly by her dressing table; the light from one corner of the frame shone directly into her eyes and she squinted, making her way over to the dressing table and moved the object so she wasn't risking blindness. It was only when she felt the glass under her still ungloved thumb that she rolled her eyes down to look at it; when she did, she thought someone had punched her hard in the stomach.

It was a picture, a skilful charcoal rendition of Team Rose outside Vanilla's house; looking into the picture, Amy's heart was twisted cruelly by the sight of Cream; _she might never see Cheese again_; smiling as she always did; _robots can't smile, robots can't feel – she'll never survive like that_; as she delivered her pose. Tears dripped onto the glass shielding the picture as Amy clutched it close to her; _because of me, my little sister's in danger – I have to save her, but I can't. I'm not Sonic, I just tried to be like him – I can't run as fast, I'm not as strong or as smart, I can't even…WAIT!_

Suddenly, that one single memory, almost lost and frozen out because it had come at the darkest time, resurged into Amy's mind; over and over, she heard her own voice say the two words, felt the strange sensation playing over her fur and skin and saw the images Dimitri must have projected into her mind to choose her destination. From deep within herself, a desire rose up and inflamed, burning so brightly it hurt, demanding every scrap of her energy, every iota of her being. _I used a Chaos Control – I can go back_; Amy swayed as the plan speeded before her mind; _this is the chance – releasing him was my mistake, I've got a chance to correct it – then they won't blame me_. In that instant, the internal power struggle ceased for all time; her goal fixed in her mind and nothing short of the death Dimitri was so fearful of would possibly stop her. Amy ran, simply ran and wrenched open her front door, stopping for nothing as the desire to earn her forgiveness, both from herself and everyone else, consumed her utterly; pausing not to get changed, put shoes on or even grab her Piko Piko Hammer, Amy raced to the one place were her path to salvation lay.

Outside, the first speck of rain fell from the gloomy sky.

XXX

_This is bad_; the guard of the train, identified as Wilson by his name badge, looked out into the three feet of outside he could feasibly see; the rest of the normally bustling platform was being pelted non-stop with rain coming down in sheets as thick as lead. Grateful for the shelter of the train doorway he was stood in, he shucked up his raincoat again and readjusted his idea as a couple of hailstones ricocheted up from the concrete under his feet and bounced off his shoes; _this is worse than bad_. Idly checking his watch, the guard toyed with the idea of setting off a couple of minutes early; _after all_; his bored gaze flicked out over the station he could see, grimly noticing it was virtually submerged; _no-one in their right mind going to be travelling in this weather_. Stepping back into the comforting warmth of the train, he brought the whistle to his lips and made to wave to the drivers cab.

"Wait", he shook his head, trying to clear his ears as the phantom shout reached him; _no, that wasn't_…

"Wait";_ that was_; amazingly, there was someone out there, coming closer if the increase in volume was anything to go by. Delaying his command, he peered out again, looking for the source of the sound. A blurry figure emerged, and then suddenly someone burst out from the curtain of rain pouring off the train door and stood before him.

"I need to go to Mystic Ruins".

There was no argument; Wilson simply nodded mutely, stepped aside and offered his sodden passenger into the carriage. The hedgehog simply walked straight past, not even registering his presence as she sat down at the closest table, her thin clothing squelching as she began wringing her hands, looking forwards blankly, her eyes huge and terrified as though confronting some nameless fear. Wilson regarded her for a moment, wondering whether he was doing the right thing by letting so obviously deranged onto a public transport system; after all, you read about what nutcases could do on the news. Should he contact someone, just in case she'd escaped from somewhere? Thankfully, common sense prevailed; Wilson was getting on a bit, but he reckoned he could handle anything this strange figure could muster and anyway, dressed in her soaking pyjamas and with no shoes on her feet, the pink hedgehog looked a pitiful, wretched sight rather than a psychopath in disguise. Shaking his head and giving a toot on his whistle, Wilson allowed himself a wry smile as the door slid shut automatically and the familiar vibrations of a moving train reverberated up his boots; _well I was right – no-one in their right mind would travel on a day like this_.

XXX

Throughout the journey, Amy simply stared ahead, physically immobile but her mind was racing faster than even Sonic could managed; she ran and reran the idea that had forced her into this desperate run over and over again, each revisit renewing the need, the outright hunger for absolution. She felt nothing beyond the need to follow her plan as swiftly as was possible, all other concerns were secondary; she felt the biting cold that assailed her through her wet clothes, but she didn't care enough to register it; all her thought, all her energy and all her emotion was pinned on the goal she had to complete, the only way she'd ever make up for her terrible failure.

XXX

"Mystic Ruins, last stop"; even before the words had left his lips, Wilson wasn't surprised to see the solitary passenger moving. Without saying a word, she headed towards the exit of the train, eyes still wide and unseeing as though she couldn't feel the water in her fur or hear the thunder that was now rumbling outside. Driven by concern for her well-being and his own conscience, the train guard interposed himself between the passenger and the door, looking down at her seriously but with compassion in his manner,

"Sorry miss, but I don't think you should get off here", as though to offer evidence, he waved an arm towards the nearest window, "hark at it, it's raining cats and dogs, no offence to you Mobians, but it's not safe to go out like you are". For a second she was still, but just as Wilson was about to pat himself on the back, the hedgehog looked up, fixing him with those sad, lonely eyes of hers.

Never before had he seen such desolation, such bleakness in the gaze of a living creature; all that was there in her otherwise empty eyes was an all-consuming fire that threatened to overflow from her at any moment, at the barest hint of provocation. Once more, he simply stood aside, afraid to stand against that fire in case it charred him; he pressed himself as close to the wall of the narrow exit as he could manage as she walked past, barely flinching as the first flicker of lightning flashed across the sky like the whip of the gods. She paused on the threshold, just long enough to speak five words, five words that cut through the rolling thunder like a dagger through silk, piercing into the mind of the perturbed train guard,

"I go, because I must". With that and a possible shiver as she felt the teeth of the gale, the last passenger stepped out into the storm and was lost from his sight.

XXX

Sheltered from the ferocity of the squall by the sturdy construction of his self-made dwelling, Big allowed himself a smile as his intuition had paid off again; he'd been right to stock up on fish the day before, he certainly wouldn't be able to go fishing today. Hopefully though, the storm would stir up the silt at the bottom of the streams around his home, maybe unearth a couple of eels for him to pick up when it all blew over. _Not really the season for eels_; Big thought before shrugging – no telling when he might get lucky and besides, if anything was going to unearth one of the hibernating behemoths he was sometimes lucky enough to hook and land, it was going to be weather like this. He felt a fleeting stab of panic for Froggy but just as quickly shrugged it off; he'd known his oldest friend long enough to know that he'd find a nice rock to hide under while this passed over. As he decided on something for breakfast and began to heat the water he needed over his small stove, he reached for his favourite wet day activity, sharpening the twig against a claw before dipping the resulting sharp tip into the fire, adding the ingredients as he needed to make the soup he'd decided on. _What should I draw now?_

XXX

She couldn't see the way in front of her and so often she fell over, defeated by the slipperiness of the grass under her feet and tumbling headlong, but it didn't matter, she was getting there, she was closer with each step and that was all that concerned her, all that could concern her. Amy kept going, not feeling the strain of her headlong dash or the flares of pain when she fell and skinned her elbows, hands and knees. Another spark of lightning illuminated the way; she could see the trees in front of her, a way distant yet but she was closing all the time. The need burned ever stronger, she pushed herself harder, drowning out everything else in the drive for efficiency.

A short time later she was plunging through the thickets of Mystic Ruins, the branches catching her ragged clothing and slapping at her exposed face, sucking mud beneath her feet slowing even her remorseless efforts. _No good_; Amy realised that she couldn't remember the exact way to go in this darkness and to continue blind would lose precious time; throwing back her head, voice rising to challenge even the thunder itself, Amy called for the one who held the key to her salvation,

"BIG!"

Distracted for a second by something, the cat sighed in wistful annoyance as he pressed down a bit too hard and smudged the line he was tracing. _Rats, and that wasn't too bad either_; he held up the pencil for a closer examination, trying to gauge if it needed sharpening, when the distraction came once more, piercing the storm and causing him to straighten up in his chair, ears extended to their fullest as he clutched his armrest; surely he couldn't be right? Who would call his name; who would be out there, in this weather? _But there it is_; Big pushed himself upright and rushed to the door of his home, ripping the door open and bracing himself for the biting cold as he listened, waited again…

"Big"; the voice was faint but he could hear it and his hands flew upwards, covering his appalled dropped jaw. _Oh my lord_; the cat blinked as the desperation of the scenario sank into him; someone was out there, probably lost, in the dark and in a storm like this; _they could die out there!_ Without a second thought, Big raced outside, the door of his hut banging emptily in his absence as he roared back,

"Hello; keep shouting!" The land around his home was treacherous, especially in bad weather; time was essential here and Big swore he wouldn't let anything bad happen in his place if he could possibly prevent it.

XXX

_He's coming_; the pink hedgehog heard the return but there was no time for relief, there was no time for anything but to push on; Big could lead her to the Chaos Emerald she needed to return to Angel Island and face her nemesis. She forged on, pulling herself out of the knee-deep mud onto firmer ground, keeping up her calling, drawing her route to salvation closer like a moth to a flame. And sure enough, after a few moments, there was a movement in front of her and the Mobian she had called crashed out a copse of trees in front of here.

XXX

Despite his need for speed, Big had unconsciously watched fro a few minutes before moving; he hadn't had a choice in the matter. His mind simply couldn't take in what it was seeing; _Amy, what is she doing here now?_ The mere fact it was his hedgehog friend would have been shocking enough, but as an obliging lightning strike bathed the scene in pearly phosphorence the true nature of what was in front of him really struck home.

It was certainly Amy, and it looked like she'd been through hell to get here. She looked like she was dressed in nothing but slashed and torn rags, the thin material not up to the task of fending off the plentiful thorn bushes of Mystic Ruins. Up to her knees were covered in mud so he couldn't tell if her feet were covered, but her hands were definitely ungloved, the fingers cut and raw in places. She was soaking wet, rivulets of water running across her fur from her saturated clothing but for some reason she wasn't shivering, simply walking forwards determinedly, still calling his name and pressing on, her tone oddly chilling and soulless.

"Big". _She needs my help_; he galvanised his frozen muscles to move, help her deal with whatever was terrible enough to force her here in the first place. Setting aside all his questions for now, the cat emerged in plain sight and shouted over,

"Amy, wait there".

XXX

_He's here_; a tiny flicker of relief helped stoke the furnace of her hunger as she watched the cat come closer, his purple fur hidden in shadow as she pressed forwards to meet him, her feet drawing clear of the mud with concentrated slurping noises.

"Wait there", the instructions were obeyed without question, the panic in Big's voice evidence of danger, "that mud's deep, hold on". Skirting around the dangerous patch, Big moved as close to Amy as safe and, thinking quickly, snapped a sturdy branch of a nearby tree, shoving it forwards with a hoarse instruction, throat raw from shouting,

"Grab hold"; he felt pressure and put all his effort into pulling up, raising his arms over his head to try and lift Amy clear of the suction of the mud, the branch bending but not breaking due to the hedgehog's weight. Suddenly she came free with a jolt; without fully being aware of it, Big raised his branch vertical and let his friend slide down it, right into his waiting arms.

"Amy, what are…?"

"Where's the Chaos Emerald?" _What?_; the hedgehog's question and tone stopped his line of thought dead; _she came out here, for that thing?_

"Where is it?" There was more urgency now, without really thinking Big answered her,

"Umm, it's back in my house, I've kept it safe and…"

"Give it to me", this time Big managed to muster the courage to look down as Amy made her demand, "I need it, give it to me".

It spoke volumes of Big's grip that he didn't drop his friend as he saw her face; the fire, the sheer relentless _need_ in her whole pose, her whole body struck him harder than any blow from her formidable hammer ever could. He was stunned into immobility for a second by the emotional impact, suddenly coldness not caused by the weather flooding him as his numb lips formed the barest start of a question,

"Why…?"

"I need it"; _no time, need to get on with this now_; Amy began to struggle as it became apparent to her that Big wasn't going to help, she needed to get back to her search for an emerald. In response, the grip holding her in a hug tightened; the fire engulfing her reared up, demanding release.

"Let go!" She managed to work and arm free and used it to pound on the encircling limbs, trying to loosen them enough to writhe free. They didn't move and her quest was held up; she felt like howling in frustration when something else smashed into her.

XXX

Big hadn't taken his eyes off her face, even when she started attacking him; he could take the pain and a lot more besides. It was her look and what was causing it that had caught his undivided attention. He had seen the desire there; she truly wanted that Chaos Emerald more than anything else in the world right now, and she was willing to go to any lengths, through any obstacle to get hold of it. _But why_; that was the question; as his observations were run over again and again in his memories, he became aware of something else, the fuel behind the fires of her wanting; _I see the reason, but why's it there? She's the nicest person I know, what could she have done?_ Even as he considered the thought, he realised there was only one way he could find out, and he braced himself for it,

"Why do you want it?"

"I need it"; the same voice, but maybe a bit higher pitched this time; _progress then_.

"Why, what for?" He felt the struggle renew, he was getting close now, she was desperate to get away from him, keep running away from whatever was hounding her.

"I just need it"; a scream this time, tears trickling unfelt down her cheeks as the blows softened; Big nearly lost it then, nearly let her go but at the last second heeded the danger; now for the first time in his life he needed to be completely ruthless to help someone, someone he called a close friend, someone who had shared a desperate adventure with him, someone who needed his help now more than ever before. Forcing his face as close to hers as possible, the cat shouted down to her,

"You don't need an emerald Amy, you need to talk. Why are you here, dressed as you are in this weather? What caused that – who's after you? What happened to you Amy?"

XXX

_What happened to you?_; the words echoed in her head, lancing at the fire that had thus far driven her remorselessly. She'd been running so hard she'd never stopped to think about answering that question; what had happened? Now, pinned in place by someone so much stronger than she was, she couldn't run away from it any more; the emotions she had buried since she had awoken to find Athair's blood on her hands burst forth from the dam she had held them behind. Misery, fear and guilt made a dreadful cocktail, every sensation, every nuance of what had happened flooded through her and drained the heat from the fire she had built atop them, quashing her blazing strength with freezing blame, robbing her of the every desire bar one; for lack of options, she took the only path open.

Her arm dropping limp by her side, Amy Rose finally let it all go – she buried her face in the soft fur in front of her, screamed shrilly and burst into fresh tears. She had cried for others, cried for the fact her friends were in danger, now, finally, she cried for herself, the terrible things that had been done to her, and the weight that had placed on her shoulders now. Tears of sorrow cleansed a path down the mud on her face, just as they cleansed fresh tracks down the guilt that stained her soul.

XXX

Big couldn't feel the storm any more; all his emotion was bent on the shivering, freezing ball of misery he had crushed to his chest. He stalled his own tears through sheer force of will; he had to be strong for Amy now. She sobbed and shivered, clawing at him desperately as she sought solace from her peril; he kept his grip steady, supportive but not constricting as slowly, so slowly she wouldn't feel it, he turned around and began to carefully pick his way back to his home, back to the wind to prevent it chilling Amy's already wet body. As he walked, he listened as best he could; Amy wasn't making much sense as she was lost in her grief, snatches of broken phrases were all he could make out, the most frequent one of which was made up of three words, three words that Big didn't believe for a moment, even if it was Amy that was saying them,

"All my fault". _I'd bet my rod it isn't_; the cat thought determinedly as he made out the light of his home; _whatever it is Amy, I'll help you with it, and you'll see it isn't as bad as you think._

XXX

Amy could cry no longer; her tears had run dry and she fell into a swoon, bordering on the brink of consciousness as the cold permeating her threatened to freeze her out of her own body. She was barely aware she was moving, or someone was moving her in her stead; suddenly something passed overhead and the light levels increased; with a muffled thump the sound of the storm was cut off and the temperature rose significantly to let the hedgehog feel how cold she really was. As she was set down on something soft, her body finally reported in and she gasped at the pain of the cold; she could barely feel her extremities and every inch of her felt like it had just been carved from ice. Teeth chattering, she hugged herself into a tight ball instinctively, but then something held her shoulders and forced her to straighten out a little. Looking up, her sore vision let something large and purple swim into vision. Her chilled brain made the connection and her numbed lips mumbled a name,

"B,big", she shivered again and tried to stop stuttering, "you came…"

"Yes I came for you", the cat turned around to reveal the huge blanket held in his paws, face serious and concerned at the same time, "now we need to get you dried off and out of those wet things before you catch your death". Amy nodded, dimly recalling something about hypothermia setting in and struggled with the buttons on the front of her ruined pyjama shirt; her fingers felt like pink sausages, unwilling and unable to deal with the difficult buttons as they slipped again and again. Big noticed this and realised now was not the time to be concerned with modesty,

"Let me", Big reached forwards and deposited the blanket right next to the shivering hedgehog, sliding free one of his natural weapons; Amy nodded and held her shirt as far from her body as possible. He set his claw in the shirt collar and with a single fluid movement, slid it through the front of her shirt, the waistband of her trousers and span on his heel to allow her some privacy. His ears were alert for any sound of discomfort; the tiniest mewling of pain would have him at her side in an instant, but he heard nothing but shuffling,

"I, I'm fine"; _that's a lie_; Big turned back around and picked the hedgehog up again, blanket and all, carrying her to the meagre warmth of his stove like a midwife would carry an newborn wrapped in swaddling clothes.

XXX

The heat felt like the gentle kiss of the sun; Amy closed her eyes and relaxed, feeling some of the cold banished by the fire's glow. As well as this bounty, she suddenly felt Big's hand move outside the blanket, rubbing her down rigorously, simultaneously drawing the remaining water from her and bullying some heat back into her body. Slowly the cat's ministrations worked their magic; life began to fill her again, filtering down into every molecule of her body as the cold was forced to retreat. Big concentrated most of his efforts on her legs and feet especially as these had been exposed to most of the elements; even he, who had seen part of the run Amy had put herself through, was shocked at the amount of mud, water and blood that came free at his touch. His desire to know what had happened, help her with whatever problem was bedevilling her enough to drive her to this madness increased exponentially, but still he held it in check. _I have to get her out of danger first_; the cat increased his rubbing of her feet, they were still cold to his touch and he needed to get them warm to prevent frostbite setting in.

It took time and plenty of it, but eventually he was content that she was warm enough to deal with for now; reaching for his spare hung covers, the cat spoke over his shoulder,

"Amy, I'll throw you a clean blanket; put the other one on the floor and wrap yourself up in this, okay?"

"Yeah"; he heard the thump of the old, soiled bed sheet impact on the ground and in response threw his spare over his shoulder. After that he waited patiently until he got the all clear,

"Okay, ready". He turned around and regarded his unexpected guest by the light of his fire, trying to put the ominous thunder from his mind as he regarded her face.

XXX

_I must look like some kind of ghoul_; unusually Amy didn't smile at this thought – it was as if all the lightness and laughter had been crushed from her spirit. She simply looked back at Big as he completed his inspection – from his resultant expression she guessed he had deduced nothing good. Slowly he took a step forwards and, not taking his eyes from her, slowly sat down facing her; she mimicked the action, curling up into a sitting position under her blanket, awaiting the inevitable as Big leaned forwards,

"Are you hungry Amy?"

As if the words reawakened her digestive tract, the hedgehog was suddenly assailed by crippling hunger cramps, almost doubling over as the pain ripped through her gut. Reading that as a yes, Big quickly removed the lid from the pot he'd had on the stove and gave the ingredients one last stir. Amy moaned as a wonderful scent hit her nose and caused the hunger pain to redouble, the started as a large metal dish was placed in front of her and Big quickly poured out a large measure of his meal,

"Eat this, it'll help". She didn't need asking again; the spoon in the bowl rocketed backwards and forwards at super speed, the hot soup melting its way into Amy's denied stomach, heating her on the inside as Big kept topping up her portion, refilling her bowl as fast as she could empty it. Soup spilled down her chin but she didn't care to wipe it away; all her current energy was focussed on assuaging her vehement hunger. There was silence in the cabin for at least fifteen minutes, punctuated only by the sounds of liquid being displaced from one container to another and ravenous eating. The dish Big provided wasn't fully cooked and was missing half the ingredients it was supposed to contain, but at that moment, Amy could have sworn blind she'd never tasted anything more heavenly in her life.

Finally it was finished; the soup pot ran dry at the same time as Amy's hunger. The hedgehog settled back and slowly wiped her chin with her bare arm, the clear green of the liquid food staining her pink fur in a ribbon. As she pushed her bowl away, felling strangely bottom-heavy after such a large meal, a voice intruded on her fugue state,

"Amy", she looked up into the familiar, passive face of Big, "take your time, but I need to know what happened out there; you ran to my house in the night in the middle of a typhoon; why? What's gone wrong; I'll help you if I can but…" he cut off at the sound of weeping, more controlled than before but present nonetheless. Looking up and sighing, he moved to comfort the traumatised hedgehog,

"Hey, hey, shhh"; to his surprise, she backed away, not wanting him to come closer, as she raised an arm to ward him off,

"Don't touch me Big – I'm a, a monster; because of me, everyone's in danger, they could all be turned into robots and it's my fault, all my fault". Her head dropped and her chest heaved with fresh sobs; she'd looked up, seen Big's expression and without realising it, her mind ad drawn parallels between him and Athair. From that one name, they'd come back, the memories of what had happened, what she'd done, and once more she couldn't stop the tears; she could control the slightly better, but she couldn't stop them.

"Shhh Amy; I don't believe that for a moment"; _but it's true_; "something's hurting you deep inside, something terrible and scary, and the only way to stop it hurting is to let it out, get rid of it. Talking will help you Ames, and if it's within my power to do so I will as well". _You say that now_; there was a certain fatalistic doom that prompted her to speak – once he knew the truth, Big would just run a mile to get away from her, but it was better to get it over with now, let him see how bad she really was. Slowly, voice dead and head down, expecting the sounds of movement and a door slamming at any time at any time, Amy told him everything.

From the first dream about running in a dark place towards something red, through Twinkle Park and the Boxing Day Bash (Big asked a lot of questions here, trying to focus her on something positive), to arranging a trip with the Chaotix and seeing the Bloodstone for the first time. Then the call from Knuckles, about how the guardian had arranged to met them all on Angel Island, and the gang's surprise on realising the new population of echidnas. She might have skimped on the details of how Knuckles had introduced his family and the descriptions of each of them, but she did go into detail of how she had attacked Athair, the flying one, and from that had somehow used a Chaos Control to go back to the mine shaft where, after a struggle, she had cravenly caved in and granted Dimitri's request for freedom. Big listened mostly in silence, building a picture in his unique mind as the hedgehog finished her sorry story,

"and now he'll turn everyone into a robot so they can't die", she bunched her fists and sank her head down onto them, knuckling her forehead painfully in an act of self-flagellation for her sins, "everyone's under threat; all those echidnas, they won't stand a chance against him and that red rock, and it's all…" there was a sudden rush of movement and she was supported, something propping her up as the tale ended.

"Amy", Big squeezed her tightly, tears threatening to fall from his eyes as his voice broke up a little, "in everything you've told me, everything that happened, I can't see a shred of evidence that says that; there was nothing you could do. None of this can be blamed on you; you're innocent".

_Innocent_; the word was like a drop of water after nearly dying of thirst; _someone thinks I'm good_. In the comforting warmth of the large cat's embrace, Amy drew strength she had lost through her trials, belief and hope rekindling themselves as she threw her arms around her friend, not caring as the blanket slipped slightly; she was somewhere she was safe and where the burden of what she had to do next felt less heavy on her mind. Big didn't move, letting her take as long as she needed to reassure herself that he wasn't going to leave her, that he didn't, truly didn't, blame her for what had happened. It took several minutes, but when she finally began to drop her arms, he kept his gaze forwards and then sat down, letting her get comfortable once more before asking,

"When I found you, you were shouting about a Chaos Emerald"; he saw her face darken and made to repeat the previous exercise but was stalled by her voice; there was no sadness or guilt within it, just a plain, matter-of-fact tone that was possibly even more worrying,

"I need it to go back to Angel Island", she looked him square in the eye and he saw the fire spark up in her eye again, "I used a Chaos Control, I know I did, and I know I can do it again. I've got to go back and face him Big".

"Amy, that's madness…"

"I need to", the spark burst into flame, her features becoming haunted with guilt once more as she continued, "I made a terrible mistake Big, innocent or not, and I need to make it right; there's no other way. You were right, something horrible is inside me, and I need the emerald's power to face it. Please Big", she looked up at him with concerted pleading in her face, the desperate look of someone who's entire life depends on your next action, "give it to me".

XXX

_I can't stop her_; the cat was caught by that one realisation – he simply couldn't argue or talk her down on this. He couldn't stop her, nothing could; if he said no, she'd simply find another, maybe even more dangerous way to face whoever it was she'd set free, Dimitor if he'd heard the name through her sobbing correctly. _I can't stop her going after him and trying to sort out the mess she thinks she's made_; the cat took a breath as he decided to try and play this delicately; _but I can make sure she's as well prepared as possible before she does it_.

"I'll give you it Amy, but", he held up a hand to the look of hope mingled with hunger on her face, "not now".

"Big, there's no time", Amy took small steps forwards, the oversized blanket covering her like a shroud, "there's no telling what he's doing now; he could…"

"No!" The cat leapt up, the sudden anger in his voice serendipitously coinciding with a particularly loud thunder crash to shock Amy into speechlessness for a moment; calming down, the cat strove to explain his reasons, a pleading expression now on his face as he tried to get her to understand,

"I want to help you Amy, but you need to help yourself. I won't sugar coat this; you look like you haven't slept in days and I bet that was your first square meal in at least twenty-four hours. It'd be suicide to try and tackle this Dimitor now, especially if he's as powerful as you say he is. You need to be as ready and fit as possible", he hid a smile as Amy let out a huge yawn, the bags he saw under her eyes threatening to drag her eyelids down as he finished, "so you can start by going to sleep".

"But I", Amy tried to struggle on, nothing could stand in her way, she couldn't let herself slow down or Dimitri would win, but it was no good; just as before with the food, once her body had been reminded about what it had physically lacked, it instantly rebelled to get what it needed. Amy slumped down as her legs nearly buckled under her, knees turning to water as sleep deprivation kicked in; she just about managed to drag herself towards the bed as her vision darkened and she heard a final speech in her ear,

"Sleep Ames, I'll be right here when you wake up; it's all right, he can't touch you any more". Big doubted she was awake any more than seconds after he set her down in the large litter of heather twigs he collected as a bed, her gentle snoring at complete odds with the raging, storming hedgehog washed up by the rain not an hour ago. He waited a few minutes to check it wasn't a trick, then considered his options before suddenly snapping his fingers; _I've got a bit of an errand to run later, once this weather's blown over._ Sitting back down in his chair, Big set aside his sketch pad, all desire to draw lost for now, and waited for the storm to blow itself out.

Behind him, for the first time since the rescuing of Rouge from Seraph's dark clutches, Amy Rose slept completely free from the influence of the Bloodstone; the silent siren's call lost for now, letting her dream in peace.

A/N: So Amy has a plan, but what has Dimitri been doing in her absence? What impact will this have on her friends? Who will survive and what will be left of them (gotta love old, cheesy horror classics – the remake was awful but the original is a terror classic). Next chapter will see the full power of Dimitri and his Bloodstone unleashed.


	26. Chapter 25 No Safe Haven

Chapter 25 – No Safe Haven.

A/N: Sorry for the posting delay – big chapter and I really wanted to get it right (let me know if the battles were tense enough and if you thought the scene at the end was in Dimitri's character – no peeking though, read it all first:-)) A few swift words:

Sonicron – Sorry, forgot to ask last time; has your school year finished as well? I know the holidays have started over here, are they the same your end? Just some random info I wanted to know…

TH – Well now you've asked for it (author ducks as a caffeine high Athair rockets overhead, swiftly pursued by a red-faced, swearing Spectre wielding a straight-jacket at the same time as trying to shake a gripping Sojourner off his leg). The next time you hear the door ring, for the love of everything don't wear anything metallic! Spectre's after you! Run, run while he's dealing with Athair and I'll try to cover for you (author dons Kevlar body armour and picks up a stun gun). Leg it!

Long before Amy had begun her desperate run, even before her coffee had cooled to form a skin, Dimitri had been in action. Having quickly assured himself that his grandchildren were following his orders properly, he quickly sketched out a plan of how to conquer Haven and those within it; it was a devilishly tricky little problem. _I will not hurt them any more than I have to, both to honour Amy's selfless words and for my own weariness of war_; the Bloodstone's glow dimmed as though sensing its creator's decision of pacifism; _but I need them all under – that's not a problem, I can reconfigure the drones to have less of an impact on the target, something to send them into a catatonic state rather than hated death or serious injury_. No, actually storming the place wasn't the real hard nut of the issue now he knew where it actually was, it was the fact that he wanted to speak to one of Haven's occupants face to face. The scientist's eyes hardened as he recalled the reasons behind why he wanted this little chat – he needed to see the reasons behind his enemy's seemingly baffling motives, but that meant that his target would have to be the last to go down; after all, he wanted a private conversation. Sighing as even his prodigious intellect was held in check for the moment, Dimitri made his way steadily to the main chamber of this base and the reason behind its construction, the crimson form of his greatest triumph bobbing in his wake at his mental command.

Strangely, despite the fact that nothing living had ever set foot inside this place, Dimitri was still struck by the sudden thought that by opening this door, he was unsealing an ancient, long decrepit tomb. The command panel that should have paved the way for him was broken beyond repair, something having nested within the exposed wiring under the console, forcing the grandmaster to resort to cruder methods of shifting this last obstacle. Rusted cogs ground against each other with a hideous grating sound as Dimitri exerted his physical strength and emerald powers on opening the door, powdered corrosion filtering to the floor, winking by the red sheen of the Bloodstone as finally, with a tortured shrieking of snapping metal, the chamber to the hidden warriors of the Dark Legion was unlocked. Taking a deep breath of the mouldy, stagnant crypt air, Dimitri strode forth, feeling the path curve upwards as he knew it would. He had planned the construction of this facility, a bastion of strength that he could fall back upon once the battle with Edmund had concluded. With the weapons contained within, the Legion would have taken Echidnopolis by storm, the populace held, waiting for the blessed immortality that only he could provide. _Well now_; Dimitri caught glimpses of rows below him, polished metal now dull and lifeless without the power he could feed them; _these tools will serve to quash the Brotherhood for the last time, and after they have been brought into the fold, released from death's heartless gaze, the other echidnas should fall into line most obligingly._ Somehow he doubted that was how it would turn out, but it didn't matter at the minute – he had to capture the Brotherhood first and neutralise the threat they posed, and he had to do it fast; already they would be preparing and the first strike could be critical.

Without further ado, the grandmaster of the Dark Legion swiftly moved up to the peak of the slight rise he had been travelling up, the light from the Bloodstone providing just enough illumination to see the platform was formed from the conjunction of four paths, all leading to the same place, high above the floor of this chamber. It had been built to his exact specifications; there were four separate entrances and exits to this chamber, the heart of his bid to win Angel Island and free its population for all time. He leaned back and placed a hand on the Bloodstone, his eyes showing him the divot in the floor, cut to the exact proportions necessary for optimal energy transfer.

"Come then", he whispered quietly, almost as if asking his invention to aid him in his noble quest, "let us end this family feud now and finally". With that, keeping the contact with the pulsating red stone, the echidna gently guided the point at the base of the cut ruby into the niche carved at the very centre of his podium. For a second all was still, then the process began; from directly beneath him, ancient power cables hummed with energy provided by the greatest of the Chaos Emeralds, funnelling it safely into the recumbent forms of his warriors. Lights blinked on and off, the scene becoming more illuminated as the Bloodstone glowed brighter in response to the drain being placed upon it. Casually, one of Dimitri's eyes rove around, watching approvingly as the scene beneath him was slowly revealed as more illumination became apparent.

Below his feet, arranged in neat rows, were banks of what looked like crystal eggs held in metal boxes. They were stacked atop each other, fifteen cells high and each one contained a single drone, complete with teleporter array to allow instant transportation to the location each was individually needed. Every one of these drones, though crude by the standards of technology the Dark Legion had perfected, was a machine more than capable of standing up to a fight with a gun-toting member of the EST and emerging triumphant in more then fifty percent of cases. Piqued by idle curiosity and bored as he waited for the rest of the cells to activate and report the status of their occupants, Dimitri activated the command console of this staging post and, selecting an active pod, ordered it to home its teleporters to a space beside him. With a whip-crack whooshing of displaced air, the drone was delivered and Dimitri was reminded of one of his first creations.

The machine was bipedal, a dull, steely grey and modelled very loosely on an echidna, albeit a particularly squat and blocky one. The face of the drone bore no features bar the LED vision sensors, the rest of the sensory equipment stored in the few dreadlocks secured on the back of the head; a weak point but, he remembered agonising about this seemingly obvious flaw in the design for weeks, in the middle of a fire-fight, it would be a very well-aimed or lucky shot that hit a target as small and constantly moving as a single metallic dreadlock. And a fire-fight was certainly what these things had been designed for; Dimitri flicked his eyes over the impressive armour that covered the torso and lower legs of this machine, though the joints weren't as well armoured and again, could be hit and knocked out with a well-aimed round. The left arm was missing from the elbow down, replaced with a short, stubby gun barrel; _aha, need to deal with the power of these things_; reminded by the sight of the gun, Dimitri broke off his inspection for a moment and once more placed his hand on the nearest facet of the Bloodstone, slightly altering the amount of power channelled into each drone to a much lower and less lethal level, about half of what they'd usually take. This would insure he wouldn't accidentally violate the pact with Amy and injure someone unduly; even before he'd been sealed away, they'd never been configured to kill but to wound, leaving the target down and ready for the Legion to capture and then save from death.

Once he was assured every drone would only be gaining enough energy to knock someone out, the grandmaster breathed a little easier and finished his cursory glance at the troops he would soon have to direct into battle. The gun was configured to shoot blasts of Chaos energy in much the same way as a guardian's emerald blast, though the shots were nowhere near as potent as those used by both himself and Edmund's descendents. The right fist was driven by several powerful pistons and was primarily used for breaking down barriers such as doors, though it could theoretically land a hefty punch in close combat. However, the grandmaster grinned ruefully, it would have to be a slow and stupid enemy that allowed the drone to swing without getting out the way, and he was certain none of the guardians were that. _So this is it_; Dimitri though to himself; _the tools that will finally bring about the downfall of the Brotherhood of Guardians_. Swiftly assessing that he still had a while to wait before his full force was mobilised, the brother of the first guardian nodded slowly to himself; though it would have prevented a lengthy detour, he had been right not to let Amy into this place and see what would be unleashed against her friends; _she didn't deserve that, and seeing this would have crushed all hope of her ever recovering._ Memories of his former host resurfaced again, and once more Dimitri found himself asking questions he knew he would ask himself for years to come – could there have been another way?

XXX

Red-eyed, snatching sleep in fits and starts, the current occupants of Haven gave the impression being under siege. On Spectre's word, each had brought the meagre belongings they still possessed into the main chamber of the underground complex, the most defensible location as it allowed a range of exits should the situation become dire. Now, swathed in blankets and resting on the cold, hard floor, there was nothing to do other than wait, wait for the hammer blow that the guardians were sure to fall, a strike that would, in all probability, end with them all captured or slain. Not much was said; there was nothing to say to friends who knew, just like you did, that it was now a case of when, not if, the fighting would start. Hunched over by a wall, Tails cast his eyes to the huddled gathering that stood just off centre of this soon-to-be mausoleum; everyone over the age of sixteen had been invited to hear the hastily drawn up battle plans and add their own opinions and ideas. _Of course, that leaves me out on a limb, as always_; the fox snarled bitterly as he realised that, once again, he was denied a place in the discussions because of his age. That was the sourest pill to take; he knew he was at least as smart as anyone else here, he was capable of thinking with the best of them; it was just because they didn't want him to outshine them, they wanted all the glory, they…

_Calm down_; the fox terminated that line of thought with a conscious effort; _you know that's not true, it's just the stress talking – everyone knows you're able to fight, they just don't want you to because that's not what a kid's supposed to do_. Sonic had explained the logic behind this a hundred times already – even during their battles with Eggman, the hedgehog had shielded him from the worst of the fighting, not to steal his share of the glory, but to stop him growing old before his time, aged by the toil of the struggling. Sighing, the fox glanced around a little to try and see what was going on around the sheltered forms of his friends; immediately something struck him. Cream, who he had lost sight of since they'd come back here, appeared to be sharing a blanket with the bee from Team Chaotix, Charmy if he remembered right. Tails felt his face flush a little as a tiny stab of something hot and sharp lanced at his heart; without really considering the impact of his actions, he crept swiftly around the edge of the main room until he was close enough to hear their voices.

"I'm scared Charmy".

"Just scared?" the bee gave a slight nervous chuckle, though whether the nerves were faked or not Tails couldn't tell, "I'm outright terrified".

"Nah, you're just saying that".

"Wish I was"; fighting down the urge to deliver an 'accidental' kick to whatever part of the blanket Charmy turned out to be hidden under, the fox felt it prudent to introduce himself.

"Hey"; there was some shuffling and suddenly Cream's face appeared before him, looking up with those large, soft cinnamon eyes,

"Tails", she smiled at the sight of her friend, pulling back the part of the blanket closest to her, indicating for him to join her in the warmth, "sorry I missed you; come on". He hesitated for a split-second before joining her; unbeknownst to the rabbit, Tails had just been checking that, rather than under the blanket as he had suspected, Charmy was in fact sitting a few feet away, talking at a distance. Feeling oddly reassured for some reason, he lowered himself to the ground, smiling back as he helped replace the blanket over the pair of them.

"Hey TT", he started at the voice, looking up to see Charmy chortling at something, "Cream was just telling me about what happened when the siren went off; did you actually carry her out her room?" Tails grinned back, chuckling a little himself as he remembered that moment now; somehow in the mad rush that the alarm had caused it had failed to register that he'd actually been holding Cream, had her cuddled into his chest, almost rescued her…

"Tails", he blinked as a hand waved in front of his eyes, "still with us in there?" _Oh, sorry Cream_; the fox shook his head sheepishly and apologised,

"Sorry, lost in thought for a minute, but yeah, I did carry her out".

"Fireman's carry?"

"Huh?" Both younger Mobians looked at the bee questioningly and he elaborated,

"Did you have her over your shoulder?"

"Oh, no", reminded by Charmy's explanation, the fox shook his head, "no, there wasn't time, I just scooped her up and ran for it".

"Why's it called a fireman's carry? I mean", Cream carried on as she realised that question on its own made her look silly, "is that the way they actually get people out of burning buildings?" To her surprise, Charmy suddenly looked at her directly with a knowing air,

"You bet your bottom dollar it is; I've been pulled out a burning building before".

"Really, how?" Cream and Tails both sat up straighter, piqued by this new information, though their hopes were dampened slightly by Charmy's sudden look of abashment,

"Well, I'd had a really long day and I mean one of those really, really long days; you know, sort of double physics followed by double maths, then double P.E to finish?"

"Sounds like a nightmare; not even I do days like that often and I work with aircraft" Tails chipped in, trying to keep the superiority out of his voice as he realised he could do days like that with impunity. Charmy gave him a small smile and then continued,

"Well, I got home, back to the office if you like, and I was dead beat; I put on a couple of chips and the pan caught fire when I wasn't looking – think I used too much oil. Well, I got back into the kitchen to in time to get a deep whiff of thick black smoke, I hear the smoke alarm go off and next thing I know Esp's slung me over a shoulder and dragged me outside, coughing like my lungs hit the eject button. While I was recovering, Vec said something about firemen and that was how they were supposed to get people safe".

"Chip pan fire; lucky you didn't throw water on it", Cream admonished with a slight smile, "I know about them, Rosie told me to…" she tailed off, all of a sudden silent for a minute, then she burst in tears, holding her head in her hands as she thought about what might be happening to her beloved sister. Tails threw off his shock and put a comforting arm around her, trying to soothe her without drawing attention from the gathering of older Mobians,

"Hey, c'mon Cream", he said with a confidence he didn't really feel, "remember what Knuckles said – we'll get her back, somehow".

"I know", the rabbit fought down her sniffles, trying to stay calm, "but what could he have done to her? You heard Spectre; Dimitri's a maniac who thinks he can save everyone by putting them in tin cans", she moved suddenly, placing her arm around his shoulders and dragging herself closer, desperate for support, "what if he's already done that to Amy, made her into a machine; I don't think I can cope with that". Seeing her in such distress, Tails wouldn't have been Mobian if a few fears of his own heart surfaced; he too had thought of such dire outcomes and the thought of them had chilled him to the bone; _no-one deserves that, Amy least of all – why did it have to be her, why couldn't it be someone who asked for a horrible fate, like Eggman?_ He couldn't reply to Cream, lost within his own internal nightmare, unhearing as another joined them; both younger Mobians jumped a little as Knuckles' voice, soft and quiet, full of mourning but also steely resolve, spoke,

"Charmy, you're with your team; they'll explain everything to you", the bee nodded, rose to his full height and walked over to the other two members of the Chaotix, pausing only to whisper his goodbyes to Tails and Cream. The fox thought he could see fear in Charmy's eyes, well-hidden but present; _but then again, we're all scared_; the thought was fatalistic but, he thought grimly, ultimately true; _you'd have to be mad not to be scared_. Once Charmy was out of earshot, the echidna looked at them both,

"Cream, you're staying in the chamber here; you don't have Cheese and it could get very dangerous, so you're to stay here and stick close to Sabre; he'll look out for you. I expect you to do the same for him, okay?"

"Right" was all the rabbit would say in response; squaring her shoulders and determined to help in any way she could, Cream followed Charmy into the centre of the chamber, making her introductions to the surgeon of the Brotherhood again. Feeling himself next, Tails stood up tall and proud as Knuckles, turned to him; even in the half-light, the kit was shocked at how much Knuckles seemed to have aged in such a short time. He seemed more weary, less able to combat the forces that were sure to rage against them, though to his eternal credit he tried to hide it,

"Tails, Sonic wants to see you; he's over that way", he jerked a thumb towards the nearest exit and then, checking quickly to see they weren't being overheard, the echidna leaned a little closer and whispered, "he's not in a good way, if you catch my drift. He's been quiet and withdrawn and that's not right for Sonic – we need him at his best if we're to stand a chance". The kit nodded, a grim look on his young face as he looked up and spoke sincerely,

"I'll do what I can". He heard a gruff chuckle and a hint of gallows humour as the echidna made to move away,

"We all will Tails, it's all we can do". With that statement running in his head, trying to make it make sense, the fox headed towards his brother and his part in the plan the guardians had concocted to combat Dimitri's dark devices.

XXX

_It's nearly there_; the sense of mounting triumph Dimitri felt as the power, his power, flooded through the ancient chamber was nearly beyond compare, though it was tempered, always tempered, by the words Amy had spoke and the promise he had sworn. Now that over ninety percent of the drones he had were ready to go, he moved on to the next stage of his plan. He had a mental map of some of the Brotherhood's domain, but it was by no means complete and that could prove to be a major disadvantage. Normally before embarking on a strike of this magnitude he would have sent in specially cloaked spy drones, each individually linked to him and concealed from most forms of detection unless at short range. Recordings of enemy movements would be made and strategies planned down to the finest detail, maybe some small acts of sabotage carried out by the trained professionals of his legion. That was how most of his clinical attacks had been carried out in the past, but now there simply wasn't the time. He had to hit hard and fast, leave none standing save one and then get them all back here, ready for the extraction of their Chaos powers and then release. The ancient echidna held in a smile at that thought; _the looks on their faces when I tell them they're free to go_; before seriousness reasserted itself and he began to plan his grand assault.

XXX

The hedgehog was stood with his back to the chamber, gazing out into the darkened corridor as though daring the darkness to make the first move against him. Tails approached uncertainly, not sure if the Mobian he had known as a brother for so long was safe any more; he had seen Sonic's face when Amy had been taken, when he'd come back empty-handed and realised then that his failure to rescue her had hurt him deeply. Still, he needed to know what was expected of him in the coming fight, and Knuckles had said this was the only way find out, so licking his lips and crossing his fingers, he spoke up,

"Sonic", the hedgehog's ears quivered and he stood up a little straighter, "Knuckles said you'd tell me…"

"I know what Knuckles said" the voice was hard and brooked no argument, Tails fell silent immediately as the hedgehog continued, "we can't all stay in here, it's too open, so we're splitting into groups", Tails made to compare this to the Metal Overlord battles but cut off as he realised this would entail reminding Sonic of Team Rose, "Rouge, Knuckles and Thunderhawk are together, Shadow is with Sojourner and Athair and I've got Spectre and Locke, when he gets back that is". Tails let out a little of his apprehension with an insignificant question,

"Where's he gone?"

"To set the lights to this place; we'll all need to see as well as we can because most of the Legion have their vision augmented to see in low light; none of us can manage that save Rouge".

"Makes sense", Tails agreed before asking the burning, blazing question in his mind, "so what do I need to do?" Still Sonic didn't turn around as he answered,

"You're here with the Chaotix, Sabre and Cream; this place is the most defensible as there's more boltholes if we need them. Your job, along with the Choatix, is to look after Sabre as we'll need his skills if anyone gets blasted. Keep this place clear of enemies and watch each other's backs; the teams'll be trying to keep the pressure off you by striking at where Dimitri's troop hit; Spectre thinks it probably won't be the lift, apparently he's perfected teleportation technology". Tails felt a little instinctive disappointment well up inside him and voiced it before he could stop himself,

"But…"

"No buts", as if to emphasise the tone of the hedgehog, the lights around the corridor began to brighten, silhouetting Sonic in a halo of bright light, "I know you can fight Tails, but there's too much at stake here now", the fox held in his surprise as his brother's voice tailed off suddenly; if he hadn't known better he'd have been sure Sonic was trying not to cry. _No, that's stupid – Sonic's never cried, not in all the time I've ever known him_; Tails made to put a hand on the hedgehog's shoulder before Sonic span to face him and his movement ceased.

Sonic was on the verge of breaking down; Tails could see barely restrained tears anchored in the corners of his eyes and his bottom lip twitched occasionally, threatening to break down whatever bulwark he was using to hold his grief back. He was only successful in denying his grief because, Tails guessed, he was waiting to fight; Spectre had said Dimitri would strike Haven soon and Sonic would be there when it happened; he'd have a chance to avenge both himself and Amy on the fiend that had bedevilled them. The two emotions warred with each other, the sorrow etching itself deeper into the trenches of Sonic's eyes as he spoke again to his brother, the words so soft and strained even the fox's acute hearing was hard pressed to catch them,

"I've lost Amy, I'm not going to lose you as well". Unable to speak, unable to do anything due to the shattering emotion in the hedgehog's last sentence, Tails nodded, offered a very weak conciliatory smile and then departed back to the chamber centre, the hedgehog's words ringing in his ears.

XXX

The last drones were activated and the time was nearing; Dimitri gave a knowing smile as he realised the time had come. However, before he could commit his forces properly, the echidna knew he had to have a clear view of what was going on once they were on the ground. Fortunately, now he knew Haven's approximate location, he was able to transfer this knowledge into the Bloodstone with but a thought. In doing so, he was able to watch on as the insubstantial thought was solidified within the crimson depths of the giant stone, forming a very crude outline of the areas of Haven he was familiar with. What he planned next would require much power, but now his was infinite and at his command; with one hand on the top of the stone, he reached out with his mind and homed in on the area he wanted to see. As he did so, his eyes still open even through the strain of controlling such energy, he was able to communicate the touches of his mind onto the map held solid within the great ruby; before his restless pupils, the positions of his enemies became apparent.

XXX

It happened simultaneously; every Mobian present in the centre of Haven suddenly felt their skin creep as though caressed by cold fingers, under the scrutiny of shadowed, unblinking eyes. As they all swapped uneasy glances, Spectre raised his voice and gestured for them all to take their places,

"We're being watched as I suspected we would be. Get ready, this is it". He moved up to stand beside his sixth-son, who had raced into the fortified area and announced that was as good as he could get the lighting in the time available.

"Good luck everyone", Espio spoke with grim finality, a couple of his stars flickering in his fingers as he didn't take his eyes off the entrance he was guarding, "we are going to need it". For once, no-one contradicted the chameleon's gloomy prediction as, no matter how much they wished it was untrue, they all realised he was right. For a few, eternal seconds, here was a silence so deep that a pin being dropped would have sounded as loud as a cathedral bell; heart beats echoed like gongs in deserted temples before Spectre, something like smoke billowing out from his robe, transforming him into a creature from the deepest regions of darkest Hell, snapped his eyes open and pointed down the corridor across from him, voice infused with authority as he bellowed,

"There, they're coming".

With that pronouncement, it finally hit home to all concerned; this was it, a final battle in which there was only the slimmest chance of victory as their foe was, by the guardian's own admission, far mightier than they and had a legion of troops at his disposal. For a second the hopelessness struck a deep, nearly fatal blow, freezing the strength from their limbs and the resolve from their hearts.

"Well no point hanging around", Sonic's voice was velvet edged with steel; lashing out to either side of him, he gripped Spectre and Locke by the arm and took off, "time to show this Dimitri what he's dealing with".

"Hawk take the next contact, Sojourner any after that"; Spectre barked as he clung to the blue hedgehog; with those commands, the first trio were lost around the corner.

"Well you heard the man, get ready", Thunderhawk took command and pointed at the other six team members, "we'll buy you as much time as we can and come back if any are hurt. Give them hell".

"You got it Hawk" Sabre spoke assuring, rubbing his spurs as he realised for the first time he may have to put them to use to maim rather than to heal. A split-second later, the lavender echidna's head shot up and he gave a feral grin,

"That way"; Knuckles swapped a smile and a look with Rouge as they set off after him, calling for the sixth-father to enter a bet with them about who'd last longest. Sojourner watched his father go, hearing the bets that were being made and brought his hand to his head, shaking it as his doleful voice seeped out,

"I've got to spend my last minutes surrounded by madmen". Of course, it was then Athair swooped over and looked around blankly,

"I don't think so; none of us are mad, are we?" The room at large, many of them trying hard not to laugh, shook their heads and Sojourner sighed before offering his hand,

"Oh well, let's get this over with"; Athair grabbed onto one hand, Shadow the other and with a burst of green light they too were gone to battle.

XXX

From his virtual vantage point, Dimitri raised an eyebrow as the strategy the guardians were using seemed to become apparent; nine of them were forming packs to engage his forces as they teleported into Haven; _of course, the guardians can detect the Chaos energy used in the process_; memories of one of the guardians having this power flickered across his mind as he quickly realised there must be at least one guardian with each group, otherwise they wouldn't be able to track his forces down so quickly. _So, that's at least three guardians out of the six; so there could be up to three left in the centre_; that was the main problem he was facing. With that many Mobians guarding it, the chamber was going to be extremely difficult to overrun, especially if it was reinforced with the packs. He'd have to consider that a little later; for now, he needed to see how well his drones would fare against the trios that were approaching them. Based on this evidence, he would plan his next moves.

XXX

"Around the next corner, I don't know how many"; that was all Sonic needed to know – letting go of his passengers, the hedgehog accelerated to combat velocity, hearing the sounds of movement around the corner he was about to sprint around; familiar sounds as well, pistons hissing and machinery humming. A savage smile split itself across his face as he remembered that the Dark Legion were a bunch of technocrats; of course they'd use robots to fight for them. _Well Dimitri, sending robots was your second mistake_; Sonic flew around the corner at waist height, dashing up one of the walls as he was able to take in the scene without breaking stride. There was a tight knit group of what looked like metal echidnas; whether they were just heavily augmented biological echidnas or true robots he couldn't tell and didn't care. All that mattered was that they were Dimitri's; Dimitri who had tormented Amy, twisted her and then stolen her from right out of his hands; _your first was to crawl out of that blasted red stone!_ Purged of all emotion save cold, hungry fury, Sonic speeded into battle.

XXX

The drone had predicted from audible information that a target was approaching from along the corridor; ponderously, it swung its weapons around to cover the avenue of attack. A shot was ready to be unleashed at chest height when visual confirmation of the target was granted, but even chest height was no good when the attacked whipped around the corner on the wing; the only visual confirmation of a target it got was when a pair of steel-shod feet smashed into its vision sensors, blinding them for all time.

Even before the robot she had screw-kicked hit the deck, Rouge was on the floor and fighting; recognising these things were slow to react to her fast attack, she swung her body around and ducked low, crashing her foot into the knee joint of the closest one to her. The sheer force of her blow buckled the metallic armour surrounding the vulnerable spot and, as it brought its foot down, the weakened support gave way, sending the machine sprawling sideways and blocking the shots of the other droids as twin blurs of red and purple raced past the crouching bat, vaulted over the still-falling foe and straight into the heart of their foes. Knuckles let out a fearsome shout as, at this close range, his opponent had no room or speed to dodge and his punch smashed the armour over its chest, a swift follow up denting it still further though the damned thing still didn't drop,

"Go for the face and the arms", Thunderhawk roared over the melee, practising what he preached as, with a deft twist, he wrenched the punching arm from his new foe and brought it slamming down on its own head, caving in the metal and putting it out of commission. Hearing him, Rouge tensed her legs and sprang,

"Duck!" Knuckles instinctively hit the floor and Rouge sailed overhead, her boot impacting on the face of the drone he'd weakened. It didn't quite give way but, as the echidna exploded upwards, his fist connected with the steel chin with such force that the machine was lifted off its clumping feet, crashing down a few metres away. Adrenaline singing, the guardian whipped around only to see that was it, the half-dozen were all that had been present. Taking a swift breath and dropping his arms, he gave an exultant grin,

"If that's all he's got we've no reason to be worried".

"Drones"; Thunderhawk spat on the bodywork of one of the broken machines, disgust in his tone, "they're not much good at fighting, but at this range one of their gun blasts'll do a lot of damage. Stay on your toes and follow me", he led off, a grim smile on his face as he caught a new scent, "that was six, there's at least three times that just arrived".

"Bring 'em on"; Rouge leapt up and caught the air as she locked eyes with Knuckles, "bet you a week's night watch I break more than you can". The echidna raised his eyes as they ran along the corridor, following Thunderhawk as he led them to the next combat,

"You're on; no chance".

"Well I'm already three-one up".

"Just makes it more of a challenge".

"Glad you think that way", Thunderhawk's voice cut across them all, "'cause here we go!"

XXX

Spectre and Locke followed in Sonic's blazing footsteps, the hedgehog had outpaced them and, judging by the way the sounds of battle had been quickly stifled, they judged it hadn't gone well for the hero. Both echidnas drew on the Master's blessing and green power surrounded their paws, ready to be unleashed as bolts to smite the creations of their mad great-uncle; they sprang around the corner, fists drawn back, only for the firs to dissipate harmlessly, shock at what they saw rendering them temporarily wordless.

There had been at least seven robots; had been being the operative word. Every single one looked like it had been hit with a cross between a buzz-saw and a wrecking ball; shattered metal was everywhere and none of the previously lethal gun barrels would ever fire a shot again. In the centre of the carnage stood Sonic, blue quill streaked with oil and gloves slightly torn, but here he stood tall, erect, the cold fire in his eyes visible for all to see, turning him into an avatar of destruction that none could stand against and be victorious. In that moment, the two mighty guardians forgot their powers, forgot the fact that the Master empowered them; both understood that, with Sonic empowered by rage and grief so strong, their efforts were probably going to amount to less than nothing. Seeing them, the hedgehog looked up and let a cold smile onto his lips,

"Pathetic, even Eggman did better than this; are there any more around?" Startled out of his reverie for a moment, Spectre swept the immediate vicinity and nodded,

"Good", the hedgehog brought his foot down on one of the upturned faceplates of a broken droid, the metal crumpling like thin tin as he finished, "let's get them". Without a word of argument, the guardians took off towards the closest remaining group of drones.

XXX

_I may have underestimated them_; Dimitri was a little disappointed in himself at this realisation – he normally didn't make mistakes such as that, but he certainly made one here. Against the three teams, not even half-a-dozen drones stood a chance; okay, so that number was a spit in the sea compared to what he had left, but still, no-one ever conquered anything by being careless with the lives of their soldiers. However, the destruction of this first wave was not a complete loss; for a start, a fortunate turn of events had become apparent; when the droids, and therefore part of the Bloodstone's power, had been present within Haven, the map he was currently overseeing suddenly became much sharper and in focus. Similarly, he was able to almost 'see' out of the eyes of his robotic minions; though he wasn't able to explain exact why this had happened, the grandmaster was nonetheless canny enough to take an advantage when it fell into his lap. A slight smile creased his face as he recognised the route on of the parties was taking; it was an area of Haven he was familiar with from wandering with his host. Opportunities beckoned…

XXX

Thunderhawk swore as more foes simply appeared in front of them with a sudden whip-crack noise. Unlike himself, the drones weren't affected by the suddenness of their appearance; they simply sought a target and fired upon it. The elder guardian recovered enough to throw himself flat as, with a hellish flare of red pulsing light, one of the drones fired, the discharge of its gun singing the fur on his back as it earthed on the wall behind him. It never got a chance to fire again; Knuckles skipped past his prone sixth-father and one of his fists closed over the gun barrel, the sheer strength of the guardian buckling the metal out of shape. With a smile, Knuckles heaved on his opponent, the veins standing out in his neck he fought to overcome the inertia of the metallic beast; suddenly it was torn free from the floor and Knuckles swung around dragging it with him. Thunderhawk felt the sudden darkness of a shadow pass overhead as his sixth-son completed a clumsy half-pirouette before letting go, sending the drone crashing back amongst the ranks of its fellows, sending two more of them to the floor. A white shape fell from the sky and danced a rapid tattoo on their prone forms, reducing them to scrap as an indignant voice filled the air,

"Hey, those were mine".

"Finders keepers".

"No way, I had them down and ready to go"; Knuckles was breathing heavily, rivulets of sweat running into his eyes as he flicked his head to dash them away. Rouge was hardly in a better state as she knelt to help Thunderhawk up, the elder echidna cursing himself for freezing up like that when in danger. The bat shook her head at his blaming,

"Don't sweat it; where to next?" she was answered, as if heard by someone other than her team mates, by another 'whip-crack' from further down the corridor. All three Mobians shared a glance and then took off for the battle.

XXX

_Keep them coming_; Dimitri carefully positioned his forces to keep his targets on the move; soon he'd have them where he needed them. Already the trap was set; all it needed was just a little hint of luck to go to plan.

XXX

"There's two that I can see", Rouge whispered, glancing around the corner from where the noise had come from, "but more could come in".

"That's a risk we have to take; we need to take as many of these things down as we can and keep the pressure off the Chaotix", Thunderhawk muttered in response, keeping his voice low in case he could be overheard by the surprisingly sensitive audio sensors of their robotic foes, "Rouge, you're quickest; this'll be up to you".

"Typical; want something said ask a man, want something done ask the woman", the bat complained, causing Knuckles to give a snort and shake his head, offering his grandfather a look-what-I-have-to-put-up-with glance. Rouge smiled, took a deep breath and then sprinted around the corridor corner, shouting to the two in front of her,

"This for fourteen-sixteen". There were twin flashes of red in front of her and she threw herself forwards, going into a forwards roll to dodge the shots. She gave a hiss of pain as something white hot grazed the tip of her left ear; _that's it, you're history – no-one but Knuckles touches those!_ The bat snarled as she let her momentum carry her within striking distance; once there, she pushed off the earth with her hands and wrapped both her legs around the neck of drone that had shot her. With a deft twist and flap of her wings, she gave a vicious twist that would have broken the neck of a mortal opponent, letting out a loud shout as she did so.

It would have killed a normal man; the results on the robot were even more impressive; with a shriek of breaking metal, she tore the head compartment clear off; mind acting on overdrive, she quickly adjusted the course of her fall to allow the destruction to continue. There was a resounding clang as the disembodied head was slammed forcibly into the steel skull of its counterpart; the armour didn't quite give way, but from the way the eyes dimmed suddenly she could tell it was a fatal hit. Tucking her legs in, she span down around in mi-air to land on her feet and see the two echidnas racing towards her; feeling suddenly flushed with her flash of inspiration, she gave a swift pose for effect. A pose that, had circumstances been not too dissimilar, could have proven to be the last thing she ever did.

XXX

He was the Bloodstone, the Bloodstone was him; through it's creation, he was linked to it implicitly, closer to it than even the guardians were to the Master Emerald. The drones were powered by the Bloodstone and therefore, given a little concentration and effort, Dimitri could individually take control of a single machine, the connection between him and his greatest source of power allowing such a overtaking to be possible. Normally the grandmaster wouldn't have bothered to do such a thing as the normal battle drones were quite capable of working without orders and pretty much wouldn't have lasted against guardians anyway however much effort he expended. However, in certain circumstances, there were times when such close control was a definite advantage, and the precise nature of an ambush was certainly one of those critical times.

Dimitri's mental impulse had stilled the normal imperatives of the drone; instead of immediately seeking out the nearest viable target, it had waited quiescent at the post it had been teleported to, ordered only to divert power to its gun and raise its powerful fist. However, as the control was suddenly lifted and the directives took root again, the drone acted; smashing aside the flimsy barrier in front of it, the machine sought its nearest target. As its controller had predicted and hoped, there was one stood right in front of it.

XXX

It was one of those awful moments when time slowed to a crawl; Rouge had heard the splintering crack from the small door to her right and, almost even before she looked, she knew there was no way she could dodge a shot at this point-blank range. She saw everything, every reflection of the light from the polished steel surfaces of the machine that was going to kill her, there were tiny flickers of the red lightning around the extreme end of the barrel as the chaos power made itself manifest, she could even smell the ozone as there was a sudden ionising crack and rise in temperature. Then she was flying backwards, thrown haphazardly by the force of the hit but strangely there was no pain; _shock maybe?_ Still confused, the bat was crashed into the floor as someone let out an agonised roar, swiftly followed by a heavy smash and a noise like someone beating a sheet of metal with a sledgehammer. _There's no pain_; the bat shook her head as she realised the ceiling above her head was starting to look boring, beginning to sit up and try to collect her bearings, still marvelling she was alive at all. There was Thunderhawk; he must have borne the machine to the ground and was now raising hell on its steel hide with his iron fists; that thing was a goner and no mistake. She flicked her eyes around, and suddenly being shot would have felt like a mercy.

Huddled against the wall opposite where the machine had burst out from, Knuckles was lying in a crumpled heap. He wasn't conscious, and it didn't look like he was breathing. The echidna had thrown himself forwards at full stretch to push the bat out the way of the gunshot, taking the hit that was meant for her.

Rouge was by his side almost before she realised it, fighting down her sudden tears as she was torn between thanking him eternally for saving her life and damning him forever for being so stupid as to risk his own. Her trembling fingers touched his neck and found a heartbeat; Rouge almost sagged on the spot, giddy with relief, but as more deadly 'whip-crack' noises were made close enough for her to hear, she was forced to make a decision. It was one that would probably mean the end of her, but looking at the helpless form of the man she loved and remembering how he had sacrificed himself for her, she made it in a second.

"Bloody hell", Thunderhawk pushed himself off the mangled wreckage he'd created and joined her, looking down at his sixth-son with worried eyes, "stupid boy; he should have been able to dodge that. Now what…?"

"Run".

The lavender echidna looked at the bat as though she'd gone mad,

"What?"

"Run", she repeated, pushing herself to her feet and turning to face where most of the new foes were coming from, "take Knuckles and run; get back to the centre and get Sabre – if anyone can help him he can".

"Rouge…"

"Just do it", the bat snapped, still not looking anywhere but forwards, ominous shadows now beginning to flicker along the corridor, "I'll buy you as much time as I can; he's saved my life, I'll do the same. Run and don't look back". Without saying another word, the sixth-father reached down and hauled the comatose form of his grandson over one shoulder,

"The guardians will remember you, Rouge the Bat". He heard a slight snicker as she began to walk forwards, towards a fight she couldn't possibly win,

"Funny that; no-one ever forgets me, for one reason or another. Now go". With that, he ran, muttering a short prayer under his breath even as he cursed Dimitri to an eternity of suffering for what he was doing.

_Knuckles is safe now_; with that thought in her mind, Rouge was content; nothing these things did could hurt her anymore. She carried on, breaking into a light jog as she heard the mechanised tread of enemies approaching,

"Come on then, don't keep me waiting all day. Yahhh!" With that, the first of them appeared, it's sleek, shiny hide quickly buckled and dented with a pair of boot prints. The kicks slewed the metal beast around and, unable to terminate its pre-programmed actions fast enough, its gun spoke and decimated the machine next to it, catching itself in the blast and blowing them both into shards. Flying slivers of metal gashed Rouge's bare arms but she felt no pain, simply leaping forwards to engage more of them, each second letting Thunderhawk get further away. With more of these implacable, unstoppable terrors appearing all the time, the struggle was doomed – however, if the bat knew this she didn't acknowledge it. Even as Dimitri sent in reinforcements to cut off any line of retreat she may have had, she lashed out, buckling the chest of her next victim.

Even as they closed in around her, denying her the space to kick properly, she threw herself against them, hammering their hides with her bare fists and cracking exposed optics, uprooting vulnerable dreadlocks.

Even as the lightning crackled all around her and the stink of ozone permeated the air, she took to the air, raking her feet across the heads of those droids nearest to her.

Even as the gun discharged and pain raced to claim her, she went down fighting, aligning her last dive to allow her to crash, feet first, onto the droid that had killed her. As consciousness fled, chased away by agony, she allowed herself a smile;_ I won Knucks – twenty three to sixteen_.

XXX

Finally he had something to show for his not inconsiderable efforts; one of the three teams of three had retreated and, more importantly, it had lost one of its members, who had stayed behind in a desperate rearguard action, even though it had meant certain defeat. Dimitri could respect courage like that and, realising that if he didn't take a hand now, there was a definite risk that the drones close to the fallen form of one of his enemies would simply walk all over him in an effort to engage the next nearest target, he acted swiftly. Taking command of one of the droid nearest the slumped form, he had it touch the foe gently and, with a grunt of effort, he activated his own chaos power, dragging both the drone and the foe it had captured back to his control platform.

With a crack, the two rematerialised, slightly behind him; sparing nothing more than a swift glance, he noticed with surprise that it was the bat woman who had fought so hard and dragged at least half a dozen of his drones down before finally being brought to earth. _Impressive even by guardian standards, but she is of no threat now_; the impact of a shot from that range would have her under for at least six hours, more likely eight. Plenty of time to capture the rest of her friends and then sort out his other problem; _how am I going to house them all? This place isn't a prison and I can't cater for fifteen now_; with a sudden jolt, the echidna was swiftly reminded that before he could come to that problem, he have to actually capture his foes first. With a snarl, he returned to the fray and, recognising one of the teams was down, decided it was time to test what defences his nephews had left around their centre of operations.

XXX

Shadow had to confess that, though neither Athair nor Sojourner were true warriors in the way Sonic or himself were, neither of them lacked guts. Sojourner in particular had caught his attention by the extraordinary game of chicken he was continually playing to destroy his enemies. His small, wiry frame let him slip through the tight formations of the drones, then he'd wait until the first shot was on the brink of being fired and quickly activate his unique gift, getting out the way of danger as the drones committed themselves to the shots and opened fire, blasting each other apart. Athair was also proving have hidden depths; the flying echidna was proving a valuable assert as he could fly over the heads of his enemies and, once there, unload his emerald powers in a rain of green bolts, ripping the drones apart before, in some cases, they had even registered he was there.

The black hedgehog himself was finding this form of combat easy; somehow, it felt almost ingrained within him – he knew how to duck and dive in these confined spaces, how best to use the cramped, winding confines of Haven's layout to best effect, especially against slow enemies like these drones. Something was desperately clawing at the back of his mind but Shadow fought it down; it might have been a memory, but right now he couldn't afford to freeze up listening to it, not even for a second. With a last effort, he fired up his jet skates and rushed forwards, straightening out at the last minute to go into a floor slide, catching the drone ahead around the ankles. The speed of his approach ripped the feet from under it and it was tossed into the air as he carried on underneath it, his momentum carrying him forwards and out of danger. An emerald blast tore into the airborne robot and smashed clean through it, destroying the central core in its chest and rendering it completely inoperative, the beast hitting the metal floor like an earthquake in a blacksmiths shop.

"And serves you right", Athair lectured the destroyed machine, panting hard as the fighting took its toll on him, "you don't break into other people's property like that; I thought out great-uncle would have better manners".

"You expected him to call for a tea party?" Sojourner gasped, drained by using his gift so much, thought still managing to ladle on the sarcasm with a bucket. Athair dropped a little lower, taking advantage of the slight lull in the fighting to take a quick breath and keep their spirits up with inane chatter- or at least, Shadow hoped it was just inane chatter,

"You think he will", the flying echidna sank into a thoughtful pose, resting his chin on a fist while musing, "well I've got an old tea set grandfather Tobor left me; it's a bit dusty but it can be cleaned up, and you can make decent cooki…" with that he straightened up, pressing fingers to his forehead as thought struck; a split-second later Sojourner did the same, Shadow watching on intently, senses alert for danger as the two guardians engaged in their ritual. Fortunately nothing was close by; there were some faint, very faint, whooshing noises as more of these accursed metal echidnas were delivered into Haven but they were a way away yet, they had a little time.

"Come on", Sojourner straightened and offered his hands, face serious and possibly a little frightened as he shot an explanation for Shadow's questioning look, "Hawk's in trouble; something happened with Knuckles and he needs help. Hold on". That was all both his team mates needed to hear, each grabbed an offered arm and closed their eyes to avoid blindness from the glare that sprang up around them as the fifth-father homed in on his father's presence.

XXX

They were weakening now; under the constant pressure they were starting to give – grudgingly and fighting every step of the way it was true, but still they were giving ground. Dimitri realised he had to be careful in these last few movements; it would be easy to take them all with a last, relentless assault, but if he wanted to gain the information he desired a delicate touch must be used. To further this desire, he'd measured the resistance waiting for his forces in the central chamber and kept up a steady, constant pressure, gradually increasing it in increments, trying to force those who defended it to call for help from the teams that were still roving around and disrupting his deployment, forcing him to divert drone power to deal with their reckless drives and stymieing the attack on the heart of Haven. Fortunately, even this roving could be turned to an advantage if he played his cards right; even as he plotted the last roll of his dice, he was sacrificing some of his drones to divert the attentions of the most dangerous team, which as a fact that could in no way have been coincidence contained the one he needed to speak to, away from the central chamber, deeper into Haven's recesses. Now he was sure that, if he increased the pressure, the centre would call and, by pinning this most dangerous team in place with more drones, the other two teams would be the only ones able to respond. _And when they do_; the grandmaster thought, the culmination of his plans visualised in his mind's eye; _I'll be there to rip the heart from their defence and finish the feud with my brother._

XXX

Thunderhawk ran, hearing the sounds of pursuit but not daring to slow down, the burden of his unconscious sixth-son heavy in his arms as he expected at any minute to feel the blistering pain of a shot in the back. With a grunt, he carried on; he'd sent out a call for help but he knew he'd be lucky to get any kind of response, everyone else probably had enough on their plates already. There was a sudden glare from directly behind him; instincts kicked in and in one moment he threw the recumbent form of Knuckles forwards and span into the guard position, squaring up to these new attackers, eyes darting for an opening even before his conscious mind realised the light from the teleportation had been green, not red.

"Whoa"; something ebony raced past on a trail of sparks; at the last second Thunderhawk perceived his folly and managed to divert his reflexive punch from Shadow's head to the wall just behind it. Agony sheeted up his arm and he let out a roar of pain, clutching his injured hand to his chest as, behind him, the black hedgehog went into a flat out dive to land underneath Knuckle's helpless fall, breaking the force of the echidna's impact at the same time as, at a conservative estimate, two or three of his own ribs.

"What happened father?" Shadow felt the pressure on his back lift and rolled over, getting to his feet in time to see Knuckles cradled in Athair's arms and hear Thunderhawk's response to his son's question,

"We were caught cold, ambushed; Rouge was about to get shot and Knuckles pushed her out the way…",

"I knew that bat was trouble", the fifth-father cursed, gesturing at Knuckles' limp body as proof his suspicions; only the knowledge that every pair of hands was needed to defend Haven stopped Shadow from blackening the obnoxious echidna's eyes.

"Wait", Athair glanced around desperately, voice rising in pitch, "where is pretty Rouge now?"

"She stayed behind", Thunderhawk looked his son dead in the eye, daring him to challenge his words as he finished, "she stayed to make sure I could get Knuckles as safe as possible, and I know she's not in Haven now". For a second his head dropped, as did Shadow's; _Rouge is gone, just like Amy – two people who were part of my life, just gone_; the black hedgehog was suddenly filled with a sense of his own mortality before fresh, fiery words pierced the silence,

"So I intend to honour her sacrifice; Sojourner, get Knuckles to the centre, we'll try and hold them off as best we can and…" he paused, for a second eyes wide and fearful, before shaking his head and pointing directly at Shadow, "no, you go; the centre's under attack and they need a fighter; you're fastest". Mortality replaced with resolve, sharing Thunderhawk's need for Rouge's sacrifice to come to fruition Shadow nodded and held out his arms,

"I won't let you down"; the second Athair had dropped the body of his friend and he was steady with the burden he was gone, flames from his specially designed footwear marking a blazing trail as Athair spoke again at his departure,

"Come on, let's finish this lot off and then head back; there are too many of them here now; the middle's our best hope". With a combined shout of battle lust, three generations of the same family turned at bay and ploughed forwards, towards the tide of steel that ran towards them inexorably.

XXX

Once more Spectre found himself overawed by the sheer cold brutality he was observing; Sonic was unstoppable with all the force of his loathing behind him. The bright blue ball rebounded from the walls of Haven like the world's most lethal Frisbee, slicing off heads, lopping metallic limbs off drones and sending one-legged droids crashing to the floor, where they were finished either by Locke or himself. The hedgehog showed no signs of tiring, the same patterns of spin, destroy and spin again repeating like an endless, monotonous procession that wreaked havoc on the forces of Dimitri. _No matter how formidable he is though_; Spectre though fatalistically as he used his own powers to disrupt the teleportation of more reinforcements, insuring they arrived as a collection of spare parts rather than functioning units; _we can't go on forever – then again, that was never the point_. The black echidna knew he was going to fall sooner or later; it was just a case of when and how many of these abominations he managed to drag down with him that mattered. As his sixth-son sent a wave of green energy flowing down a side corridor, incinerating the drones that had been trying to outflank them, Spectre smiled grimly; _we will fall in our ancestral home Dimitri, but we're going to fall hard – by the manner of our deaths you shall know us, and know that we fight to the last!_

_It feels different_; normally in battle, Sonic was all adrenaline and instincts, brain buzzing with different stimuli and what these stimuli meant for him if he did nothing about them. In this fight, this desperate, dirty fight in confined spaces that denied him the ability to use his full speed and skills, there was none of that; his mind was as clear as day, transcended from the chaos and randomness of a normal battle; his sole concern, his only purpose was to destroy these puppets of Dimitri, the faceless foe who had stolen from him the one thing he treasured, had always treasured and was now certain to never see again. Every drone destroyed hurt Dimitri and by destroying enough of these crude, hideous things he could send the rabid technocrat into an eternity of torment. It was this thought, crystallised into an ice-cold, frozen spike that allowed the hedgehog to survive and crush without thought, decimate without pity and cripple without mercy. Swallowed by hatred and consumed with grief, Sonic attacked, attacked and attacked, hardly caring if he was hit or not for he could feel no pain; all that mattered now was revenge.

XXX

He had expected bad and he was not disappointed; as he skidded to a halt, Shadow recognised a last stand was in progress. There was no chance of Sabre healing Knuckles now; he was too busy trying to save his own skin from being blasted from the press of robots he was holding off from one of the side tunnels, Cream at his side, looking terrified but still trying her hardest to help by fluttering up and obscuring the vision sensors of his opponents. Tails was side by side with Espio, both scrapping away to try and stem the tide from another direction with flickering ninja stars and, when a drone came too close, a taste of spike and fist. There was a roar and whoosh of flame as Vector burst from one side of the doorway he was sheltered behind and unleashed his inner fire on the drones in front of him; with such sudden movement their servos were confused for a second – a second later they were rapidly cooling slag. The crocodile span into the cover of the opposite doorway and breathed raggedly, the melted remnants of his destroyed attackers providing a temporary barrier from the press of metal behind it. Charmy circled overhead, a wary eye for any new threats that arose against their already overtaxed last line of defence; as he set Knuckles down, propped up by the nearest wall, the bee dropped by the side of him and shouted,

"Go relieve Sabre; we need him to call the others".

"Got it"; even as he spoke, there was a scream, high and piercing, that cut through the fog of battle at the same time it cut through the fog imposed on another by a battle with the Metal Overlord.

XXX

This was it, the timing was critical; he had to apply just the right amount of pressure to get them all where he needed. The team he wanted isolated was too far away to respond as it didn't include the guardian who could displace himself, though it costing an awful lot of resources to keep it pinned down, and they surely couldn't last too much longer in their now, not without help. Dimitri ground his teeth and suddenly had a flash of inspiration; keeping everything else exactly the way it was, the released prisoner sent his mind racing into the subject closest to the target he wanted to take. Slowly, with great slovenliness, the great claw opened and, the power of the Bloodstone refracting time minutely to allow the drone's arm time to manoeuvre, it closed gently on a target; perhaps another capture would force their hand?

XXX

_She was screaming for help; he had to protect her, it was his duty, his life, his very reason for his existence. They promised it was just for show, just to make the training more realistic; there was nothing false about a scream pitched like that. Filled with righteous anger, he sped to the rescue like a hero from one of the books she had read to him in his infancy._

_All around him were statues; there was nothing that could match his speed when she was in danger. Fire burnt out from under his feet and in his soul as he saw her caught, held helpless within this brutal grip. A loud cry rent the air and he was flying, kicking off the wall to gain leverage, plan ready and virtually tested to perfection before his boot had even touched the wall. The flames were low, he couldn't risk burning her by accident as he landed, one foot on each claw of the pincer, the impact of his landing forcing it apart a fraction, loosening its hold on her. He had her now; joy filled him as he felt her fall backwards against the soft quills of his back, but his work was not done. He flipped backwards, treating the accursed thing that had dared lay its filthy paw on his friend to a taste of flame as his shoes lit up to maximum. He completed his somersault and leant backwards, letting himself slide back across the smooth floor, completing the trial, and he was victorious!_

_Exultation slid home into him, he had saved her, and her voice, the sweet music of his personal angel, spoke to him, the words like the finest nectar on his ears,_

_"Shadow…"_

XXX

Cream gave a heavy shove, not understanding why after his spectacular rescue the black hedgehog had frozen so suddenly in full view of the other drones when they all had guns pointed at him. Fortunately she had been strong enough; both of them were propelled into the lee of the door and safety, red bursts erupting behind them but impacting harmlessly on the wall opposite.

"Shadow", the rabbit repeated as he still didn't respond much, "what's wrong?" Slowly, far too slowly in her frightened eyes, he pushed himself to a lounging position and spoke to her confused,

"Cream?" The rabbit nodded and suddenly he was alert, looking around wildly as if he had lost something, "where is she?"

"Who?"

"The girl", the black hedgehog shook his head, trying to remember what had just happened with more clarity; he remembered a female voice, but no face, there was nothing for him to fix on there, "the girl I saved".

"Shadow you saved me", the rabbit was desperate to try and deal with whatever this was, especially as it seemed Sabre was on his last legs holding the doorway alone, Charmy engaged with the robots swarming through Vector's entrance as a lucky hit had laid the leader of the Chaotix out for the count, "that robot caught me and you jumped over his head and landed on the claw, grabbed me and flipped off it. Don't you remember?"

"Yeah, I remember", the black hedgehog realised what had happened and regret swirled into his stomach like icy water as this time the past would have to be forsaken to save the present, "but this isn't the time for memories". Minutes later, he was pushing back the robots that had been pinned Sabre down; with his last strength, the third-father sent out a last, desperate call for aid.

XXX

"Spectre", the black echidna ducked a clumsy swipe from the clanking machine ahead of him and threw it back against the wall, not hard enough to destroy it, but enough to make sure that he could hear Locke's desperate shout, "the centre; we need to head back!"

"I know, but there's no way though here", Sonic crashed into the drone he had been about to unleash and emerald blast at and he swiftly realigned his aim to take out the one next to it, "no easy way at least".

"Then we break through" the blue hedgehog declared, dodging a gun blast at point blank range and spinning the gun from the opponent who had tried his luck. It was as he said this that the strangest thing happened; all of a sudden, the drones fell silent, their power failing with a residual electric hum as the lethal fists and firearms fell limply to their sides. The two echidnas and hedgehog darted suspicious glances all around; why were they now surrounded by statues – had Dimitri called the attack off? Wetting his dry, parched lips, Spectre took command, his voice deafeningly loud in the sudden silence.

"We go to the centaahhhh!" Both he and Locke fell to their knees, emerald senses alive with molten pain as their enemy finally released his most powerful weapon.

XXX

It had ended quickly; with a green flare, Sojourner had answered the cry for help, delivering himself, Thunderhawk and Athair to where they were most needed. The weary defenders who were still fighting took heart from this new wave of reinforcements and redoubled their efforts, riving back the drones that had threatened to spill into the centre of the chamber itself. Thunderhawk homed in on one that had broken through Espio and Tails' corridor and smashed his fist into where a stomach would be; with a feral smile he released the pent-up energies of his Thunder Arrow through his fist and the machine disintegrated. As he span around, he saw that everyone was pushing these spawn of Dimitri back and, wait, they weren't fighting. Even as he looked, Shadow stepped back from his position in the mouth of an entrance, eyes narrowed as the drones he had been squaring off against powered down, their vision sensor LED's dimming to blackness as their arms fell to their sides.

"What's going on?" Cream's tiny voice questioned; Thunderhawk's immediate thought was nothing good, especially when he started to feel it. Something had just begun to creep over his skin like the warm, still air that precedes a thunderstorm; he could almost see sparks being struck off the walls as the process continued.

"Everyone out!" Athair barked, probably as attuned to this as he was and a great deal more cautious; before the command could be acted upon, there was a sudden concussive boom and, above the table in the middle of the Haven's heart a red dagger appeared, point down, to end the fight.

The strength drained out of Thunderhawk; in all his years of guarding the Master Emerald and training his various sons, never had he faced anything so powerful, or so terrible. He saw his own stunned reflection in the surface of the red jewel, cut into a grotesque parody of the soul of Angel Island, red fire flickering around it as though it had suddenly been raised for the pit of Hades itself, an crystallised sliver of hellfire. As his eyes rose, horrified at this desecration of his ancestral home, he took in the nightmarish figure that had summoned this dread weapon and now used it to end the line of Edmund. A black cloak, trimmed with red, fluttered in the ethereal breeze, the helmet reflecting the bale crimson radiance from the plinth he stood upon, transforming his face into that of a dragon breathing cold, cutting fire. Two gauntleted hands rose to the level of the armoured chest, and Thunderhawk felt his eyes drawn to the visor slit of the armour, a single word falling from his shock-deadened lips,

"Dimitri".

The hands exploded outwards, thrown wide as if embracing the room; goaded on by its master's command, the Bloodstone flashed and a perfect circle of gore-red power seared forwards, expanding to flood the chamber and all who stood within it. Thunderhawk raised his arms as a guard, seeking to protect himself with the Master's gifts even as he knew they couldn't protect him from this. The power raced over him, through him, there was a sensation of freezing, falling into eternal night and then Thunderhawk, great son of the first guardian himself, knew no more.

XXX

"What is it?" Sonic took in the look of horror and pain on the faces of both his companions, Spectre in particular looking like he'd just suffered a heart attack, "what just happened?"

"It's him", Locke croaked, one hand on the wall as he sought to push himself upright, still reeling from that much chaos energy assailing his finely tuned emerald sense, "he's here, and he's attacked".

"Dimitri!" Sonic spat the name like poison, spine bristling in rage, "he's in Haven now!"

"Yes, he…" Spectre was left talking to empty air as the rage that had been bottled up within the hedgehog finally claimed ascendancy; with a rush of wind and a snarled curse, Sonic was gone to gain revenge on Amy's kidnapper. Spectre and Locke were left gawping in his wake, neither able to move due to a combination of resident pain from the concussion of such a monumental surge of raw emerald power and shock that Sonic had deserted them in the manner he had. Therefore it was simplicity itself for the presence behind them to command the two drones he had requisitioned to take the two final shots…

XXX

Dimitri broke the mental contact with a smile of triumph – that was the last of the guardians down, now he had only to wait for Sonic to appear. Lowering his eyes, he caught a flash of blue coming right for him and with a thrill of sudden panic realised that for the second time in less than two hours he had made a miscalculation.

XXX

It was a scene from his worst nightmare, worse that his worst nightmare because it was all too real. The bodies of his friends were still warm, right before his appalled eyes; never again would he run a race with Shadow, he could never admonish Cream for giving him the title of Mr, Tails would…

_Tails!_

It was all too much; all semblance of rationality dissolved under the rain of sheer brute bloodlust that fell over him; a red rage, hot as all the fires of hell, surged through his body and rose in his throat to a low, rumbling roar. All he could think of, all he had eyes for now, was the figure standing on top of that red rock, the one responsible for the destruction of his life, the one who had to be Dimitri. With a scream of wanton destruction, Sonic Hedgehog hurtled blindly towards the Bloodstone and its deadly master.

XXX

He couldn't avoid the impact; he braced as much as was possible but even that was nowhere near enough – the armour on his chest crumpled like foil under the hedgehog's first assault. Vertigo clawed at Dimitri as he was catapulted off his platform by the strike, the floor spinning wildly as he fought to keep his mind clear, draw the energy he needed from the Bloodstone. He landed heavily and made to scrabble upwards, only to be sent sprawling by another impact, something sharp gashing the flesh of his upper arm. He felt himself flipped over, onto his back, and the next second fingers like iron bars were at his throat, threatening to cave in he throat guard of his armour with fury-lent strength. Even through the vision slit in his visor he felt hot breath from a face mere inches from his own, a Mobian overcome with blind anger and hatred was trying to choke the life from him and had it not been for his armour he would have betted they may well have succeeded.

"Die, die you madman", the tone was flint hard and he meant every word of it; unfortunately the words were ill-chosen. Another term may have brought Sonic precious few seconds extra, but that insult fanned the flames of Dimitri's own sense of injustice, especially from this Mobian. With a burst of power, he sent his assailant spinning upwards, crushing him into the ceiling to with a violent telekinetic shove,

"Who are you to call me a madman Sonic?"

XXX

The hedgehog was caught and held, giving him a birds-eye view of the floor of Haven; _if I break free I'll fall and hit him – at this height I'll go right through!_ Sonic strained with every muscle in his body but still the grip was firm, unyielding and he couldn't fall, was unable to exact he final revenge on his hated foe. With a scream of anger he threw himself forwards again; for a wild second he thought he'd done it, but as he looked down to try an align his dive he saw he was heading straight for the nearest wall. The impact was hard but not enough to register properly; still he threw himself forwards, fighting with everything he had as Dimitri rose to his feet and, holding one hand up to him as though warding him off, advanced cautiously,

"Sonic". The hedgehog didn't answer, still engaged in his futile struggle against the telekinetic power Dimitri was employing; with a grunt of effort, the echidna acted, fighting down his own desire to inflict pain on this impudent warrior; _it is a crime of passion – he doesn't see what I've done yet and I must show him_. Sonic suddenly went rigid, unable to move anything but his eyes as the grip around him tightened; once he was sure the hedgehog was powerless the grandmaster repeated,

"Sonic, look around you", he waited until his younger opponent's eyes started moving over the hall before he spoke again, "none of your friends are seriously hurt, they're just knocked out, even Rouge and Knuckles. I'm not here to kill anyone". He loosened his power off a fraction, seeing some of the madness leech out of Sonic, replaced by confusion as he forced his mouth to move and answer,

"Why, not?" The ancient echidna felt a tug of impatience but wrestled it down,

"As the guardians should have told you, death is my only enemy, and I'm not about to give it the satisfaction of feeding on the remainder of my family and their close friends". He looked up and slowly pulled off his helmet, letting Sonic see that he was merely a mortal, just like everyone else, not some heartless tyrant who strove to crush everything in his path.

XXX

Try as he might, Sonic couldn't rekindle his earlier fury; the berserker lust just wouldn't come back. He couldn't see this echidna, who had spared the lives of everyone around him when he could have snuffed them out like candle flames, as a devil made flesh. His anger had been chilled and now he was driven by curiosity rather than the thoughtless need for revenge.

"So why are you here?"

"I came to conquer Haven and end my feud with Edmund's side of the family", there was a mirthless chuckle as he swept around one gauntleted arm, "and I have succeeded in that. However", he fixed Sonic with as piercing a look as his roving eyes could manage, noticing how his captive flinched upon seeing his insouciant pupils, "you have been left until last, and that is because you have he answer to a question I have wanted answering for a while".

"What's that then"; _dictators are all the same – it'll be about my speed or how I can use the Chaos Emeralds_; a steely smile fortified Sonic's lips as he remembered Eggman trying to discover similar answers, "'cause I can guarantee I won't tell you anything".

"It's about Amy".

Sonic had been prepared for anything but that; the name conjured such memories and fear as couldn't be concealed by his emotions; his face contorted like a snake into a mask of apprehension mixed with resurgent anger; he threw himself forwards again, managing a little purchase before Dimitri forced him back,

"Where is she? What did you do to her you psycho? Spectre said that to drag your body out of that thing", he nodded savagely at the Bloodstone, "you had to go into her body, make her do things – is this true?"

"Yes, and I'm not proud of it", Dimitri answered wearily, keeping Sonic's reaction in check with a little more power from the Bloodstone, "my mind hid itself within hers and, when hers fell dormant during sleep, I was able to take over and reclaim my freedom. I hated doing it and, as I explained to her, had there been another way to get my freedom, less painful to her, I would have taken it without a second thought".

"I bet" Sonic spat; Dimitri's temper flared and he pushed his hand forwards; Sonic saw stars flicker and burst in front of his eyes as his head was smacked backwards into the wall behind him suddenly, the echidna's voice once more in his ringing ears,

"I hated using Amy like that, because she was and still is a person in a million; she's safe now, in Station Square. You asked why I didn't kill anyone here, well when I was guiding her towards the Bloodstone for the last time she asked me, as a last request, not to hurt any of her friends; does that tell you what kind of a Mobian she is? How many others, in a life-or-death situation, would truly put their friends before themselves – I agreed to that promise without a second thought and here's the proof", he indicated the shallowly breathing body of Sojourner as evidence before facing Sonic squarely again, red fire crackling over his body as unconsciously his mind drew power from his greatest creation; to Sonic's eyes it looked like he was consumed in a torrent of fire.

"And that brings me back to my original question Sonic; I know Amy felt deeply for you, I saw it in her memories, her thoughts and her actions, and even if I hadn't been privy to her memories of her times with you, just by the manner in which you both fought me and demanded knowledge about her I'd know you felt the same way"; _he's reading me like a book_; Sonic felt his insides squirm and writhe as though being filled with cement as he guessed what Dimitri wanted to know, "so why did you never say it? Why couldn't you tell Amy her feelings were reciprocated?"

In that one second Sonic felt like he was under a microscope; Dimitri had him helpless and was digging deep into his soul to uncover the truth he'd buried so far down even he had forgotten the answer; anger forgotten in desperation, Sonic wanted nothing more than to run, to get away from this strange creature and what it was forcing him to face up to. Even putting his hands over his ears would have been a mercy, but there was still no give in his restraints as Dimitri continued his heart-breaking tirade,

"Why couldn't you, who has saved the world on many occasions, find it within yourself to tell her she was loved? Why did you run away from her, scorn her, throw away one of the two people on this forsaken world who would do anything for you? A girl in a million, why didn't you see that and…"

"I WAS AFRAID!"

The words echoed around the now soundless chambers, Dimitri looking up in shock to see tears, real tears, sliding down the hedgehog's face as, like a man who has nothing else in life but the desire to keep on living, more words, each as bitter as the last, slid forth,

"I couldn't tell Amy because I thought it was weak to fall for someone; I always said she wasn't cool enough for me, and besides she was always hanging around and trying to hug me, I kept telling myself she was annoying me so often I began to believe it", Sonic's voice broke as he realised he was spilling the deepest secrets of his heart to a total stranger who had just wiped out most of his friends but he was going too far to stop now, "I didn't dare tell her for fear of what everyone would think; it was mushy stuff and I didn't want that. She still chased after me and I just said she was a persistent nuisance and she'd go away in the end; even at Christmas, when we kissed and I gave her a present, I couldn't bear to admit it and lose my image, I was afraid of what everyone would say and think and, and now it's too late".

The last words were a shout, self-loathing manifest as Sonic raged at himself for squandering all his opportunities; _now I can never say anything to her_. Tears streamed down his face as the emotions coursed through him, though a voice, soft now, lacking anger, asked again,

"How old are you Sonic?" Through a curtain of tears the hedgehog saw Dimitri regarding him, something like wistful annoyance in his tone as he cocked his head and dangled his helmet carelessly by its chin strap,

"Seventeen now". Dimitri sighed,

"You're a young, hot-headed fool then; I know you don't listen to people much, but in the name of all that's holy listen to this; you have a bond with Amy that's very strong, but it's not unbreakable. If you keep on ignoring her, or denying both your own feelings and hers as well, you'll lose her to someone else, and then you'll really start to hate yourself. She's someone who will stick by you through thick and thin, but now she needs help", Sonic's head snapped up and Dimitri offered a tired smile, "when you see her again, and mark my words you will, she'll need you to help her get over this; it's not too late to start making up for your mistakes Sonic. For now, you should sleep"; time was pressing and Dimitri realised he had to end this; stretching forth his powers once more, the grandmaster of the Dark Legion slid tendrils of energy into Sonic's mind and switched it off, simple as you please – soundlessly, the last resistance of Haven fell into deep, dreamless slumber; the legion was triumphant.

Two tears fell like falling stars, impacting on the floor and breaking apart into swirling patterns; Dimitri's testament to the dogged resistance of his nephews, and the folly of passionate youth.

A/N: So it ends, Haven is conquered and the guardians prisoners of Dimitri. Where can it go from here?


	27. Chapter 26 Whispers in the Darkness

Chapter 26 – Whispers in the Dark.

A/N: A slight apology – due to a new job and other concerns on my time, the fic has had to slow down though it is continuing; updates may be a little slower than normal due to this fact. Also, I'm getting near the end now and really want to finish on a crescendo, so please bear with me a little. As ever, some words of thanks:

HHH – Tell me if you can guess what's happening at the end of this chapter :-).

TH – (Author looks up from where he's finally managed to shock Spectre into temporary unconsciousness). Stop hugging my cast; if you need to hug something, this is my fic so I'll…no, wait Rouge! (Author hurls himself in front of apoplectic white bat and tries to save TH's neck) yes, I know she's hugging Knuckles…yes, yes I will make it up to you this chapter…no, she's not a fan-character, she's another author so I can't stop her hugging, wait, fan-character, that's it (turns and points at imprisoned Knuckles). Activate Secret Author Power One – Instant Character Insertion (there's a split-second of darkness; when it clears, Knuckles is stood next to Rouge and the space where he was is now occupied by Seraph). Right, problem solved, wait, where'd the tanker come from? (Author watches on as Athair, still high on caffeine, parks a Red Bull tanker and starts hosing everyone down with its contents; author slaps face and rolls up sleeves). Or not, okay, I'll sort this out; Seraph (author points the dreaded finger of doom at TH), keep an eye on her!

She shuffled around a little before finally, and not without a mumbled complaint or two, gave up lost cause and blinked her eyes open. It was dark, and that was a good thing as it meant she hadn't lost much time. With a rush of, well, she couldn't really describe what the dominant feeling was as the events of the previous night came flooding back to her – as Big had more than pointed out, what she'd done to get here was incredibly stupid and she'd been lucky not to end up frozen out there in the swamp. _But I did it for a good reason – the ends really do justify the means_; the plan she had decided upon and acted out without relent and heedless of the consequences was, in the cold light of day, hasty and had far too many 'ifs' to be safe, but it was all she had; she'd let the monster out of its cage, it was here responsibility to set the matter right. _But then_; the hedgehog sighed as she held her head in her hands; _that just creates more problems_; she reminded herself of what Dimitri had done for her, how he'd explained patiently that it wasn't her fault, sat with her, even held her hand to try and lessen the blow. _He said he wants me to heal and forgive myself, but the only way I can do that is by hurting him, and that's assuming I can even overcome the power of that Bloodstone he's got._

Now that her previous temper had been blown out and raged away, she could feel grateful for what the echidna had done – compared to Eggman, Dimitri was a saint. Even in the midst of this planning, she managed to crack a smile at that; _Saint Dimitri, got a nice ring to it_. However, her mood swiftly darkened once more as she considered her options, or, to be more nastily accurate, her option; whichever way she looked at it, going back to Angel Island and standing up to Dimitri on his home ground was a tall order. _But I won't give up_; sitting up and punching one fist into her hand, Amy gave herself a nod of assurance – Sonic had never given up at anything in his life, so she could and should do the same here. She made to slide out of the nest of twigs she was currently sitting in when a hefty bang and rattle made her leap up startled; she blushed furiously when she saw Big enter his cabin and remembered just what had happened first when she had arrived here, bedraggled and half-dead with cold.

"Hullo Amy, I thought I heard you up and about".

"Ah, yeah, hi", he pink hedgehog squirmed uncomfortably, acutely aware that she was still lacking clothes and Big may have seen her in the altogether; a necessity at the time but still hugely mortifying, "about, you know, last night and…"

"My lips are sealed; I never saw a thing and you didn't come running here in a thunderstorm wearing a pair of pyjamas", the cat managed to assure her with a straight, serious face before pointing to his chair, now smirking slightly, "but if you'd like to change into something more comfortable?" Amy felt her jaw drop as she followed his finger and saw one of her red dresses, neatly folded and pressed, complete with the rest of her clothes, reclining on the mammoth seat as though waiting for her. Eyes bulging with unconcealed wonder, the hedgehog managed to whisper,

"Big, how did you manage that?" He glanced around at her, eyes suddenly sad as he recollected the journey he'd undertaken early in the morning, while his guest had still been sleeping soundly,

"You didn't even put shoes on Ames, so I didn't think you'd have locked your door".

"You went to Station Square to get all this, for me?" There was a familiar prickling at the back of Amy's eyes as she realised how much trouble Big had gone to for her. Noticing this, the cat cleared his throat and shook his head,

"Well I needed to go to the city anyway; had to pick up a few more lures and a new reel; while I was there I realised you'd probably want something to wear when you woke up. Now", he slowly began to edge backwards, towards the door, his every move watched closely by Amy as he finished, "I'll give you a bit of peace to get dressed; I'll sort out the eels for a las,ter, later meal" he caught himself just in time. _I know she'll go, all I can do is make sure she's as ready as she can be_; even as he kept repeating that thought to himself, still he couldn't wipe clean the image that he was leading a condemned friend to the gallows.

XXX

He heard nothing and could see nothing; for a fleeting moment he thought death had claimed him for its own, but as his breath quickened and pulse thundered in reaction to that thought he realised he couldn't be dead. For a start, everything still hurt; Knuckles tried to press a hand to his throbbing ribs but found his arms immobile; something hard, heavy and completely unmoving was clamped securely around each wrist. His legs were free, fat lot of good that was, but at least on the bright side he was alive and conscious and…_I might be blind_!

The thought struck him like a hammer blow; what if he was in the hospital wing of Haven, everyone at his bedside, pitying his sudden weakness even as they were unable to help him? In desperation, the guardian strained at his bonds, his eyes sweeping around desperately; suddenly he could feel every tiny movement they made, the slightest puff of air on each corona was a thing to be cherished and clung onto as much as was possible. He screwed his eyes shut and counted to five, silently praying for something that could reassure him he wasn't condemned to spend the rest of his life in perpetual night. When he met the count, he fought down the fear that threatened to swamp his mind and slowly opened his peepers again; there was a sudden lurch of panic as once more there was only impenetrable blackness for a moment, but there it was; Knuckle let out a ragged breath as a thin slice of very faint light, as if cast from under a shut door from a better lit room next door, became visible to his calmer mind. Just to be sure though, he closed first his right eye, then his left, to make sure his vision was, as far as he could tell, fine.

_So, I'm in a dark room and restrained by something; obviously someone doesn't want me to go anywhere_; Knuckle hid a smile as he remembered the last time he'd woken up to find himself tied down by something and what had resulted from that little episode before turning to the most baffling thing of all; _I'm also still alive somehow_. The last thing he could remember was panic because; _er, because, oh yeah_; that machine had sprung a trap on Rouge and she'd been a sitting duck for the shot. He had pushed her out the way and that was the last thing he could recall; there wasn't even any pain in his memories – he must have gone straight under. The slight ache in his ribs must have been caused by his fall, he had been airborne at full stretch to get the bat out of danger. _When I find you again batgirl, you're gonna owe me big for that. Batgirl…_

A hollow pit suddenly formed in the base of Knuckles' shoes and dragged everything down towards it, wiping the smile from his face as worry and concern struck him deep. Where was Rouge now – was she safe? Had she been captured, probably like he now was – was she even still al…; _no_; Knuckles wouldn't even let himself consider that question; _she's alive, she has to be, nothing can take Rouge from me_. With a Herculean effort, Knuckles rose above his doubts and fears – he needed to find out where he was, what had happened at Haven and, if necessary, escape this place and get back to the home of his fathers. He couldn't see many alternatives so after spending a few minutes weighing up the pros and cons of his idea, he decided to see if there was anyone else around,

"Hello?" Silence, his hoarse whisper fell on deaf ears; nothing for it, a bit more volume,

"Hello? Is there anyone there?" Nerves so taut a loud noise would have caused heart failure, the echidna listened hard for a response, any response; right now he'd have been grateful to hear Eggman's less than dulcet tones just to have a bit of company. _Well_; Knuckles scowled in retrospect, almost shuddering at the last thought; _maybe not Eggman yet, but give or take another couple of hours and, wait, noise!_ The echidna's keen hearing easily picked up the groans of someone coming to, as though out of a deep sleep. Waiting was agony, but Knuckles forced himself to keep his peace until the noises had quietened before speaking again,

"Hello, someone out there?" For a second there was silence, and he wetted his lips in preparation to ask again, when with a single word all his worries, fears and concerns were buried,

"Knuckles?" Heart fit to burst with relief, the echidna bit back a choked sob and fought to keep his speech clear,

"Yeah Rouge, it's me".

XXX

There was movement from the room where he'd left his charges to sleep off their Bloodstone-induced forty winks; Dimitri spat a final curse at the communications point he'd been trying to get operative again and flicked his senses around in aggravation. So far there were only two, and as he had suspected they had been the first two to be taken down by the drones; _going by my calculations that leaves enough time for a change of clothes and a general freshen up_. Giving the obstinate console one last kick, the grandmaster turned and stalked down the corridor, brushing spider webs off the guards on his armour and bemoaning the spots of oils now spattering his once-fine cloak. _If Kommissar ever finds out about this I'll never live it down – I was forever telling her not to operate machinery in her best clothes._

XXX

Rouge let out a heavy sigh of relief as she heard the echidna's voice; Knuckles was alright and that was all that mattered. Taking a few calming breaths, the bat answered her friend softly,

"You don't know how glad I am that's you. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, nothing broken that I can feel; I'll be fine. You?"

"A bit of bruising; we got lucky, both of us". Knuckles nodded before realising she probably couldn't see the gesture and spoke instead,

"I wouldn't disagree with that, but I can't move; something's got my arms".

"Mine too, and my boots are gone", Rouge's voice held a note off petulance as she finished, "and this floor's freezing". Knuckles shook his head and, despite the grimness of their precarious situation, managed a smile,

"If that's the worst we've got coming I'll be grateful, but anyway, how did you get taken? I don't remember anything after…" Rouge cut him off,

"After you saved my neck; why the hell did you do that Knucks – you could have been killed". A scene from months ago sprang up in the echidnas mind and Rouge felt her anger rise slightly as her sensitive ears heard him chuckle,

"Is something funny?"

"That question", he managed to choke back before recomposing himself, "if I remember rightly, wasn't there the little matter of you doing something similar for me with a knife", before she could answer he finished, "and anyway, if it's a choice between you or me, I'll go for you any day of the week".

There were a couple of seconds silence after Knuckles' words; he was trying to piece together exactly what his reactions had been and simply came to the conclusion that it had been a spur of the moment decision that he couldn't have chosen any other way, while she was letting his words sink in; _Knuckles was ready to die for me – I, I don't deserve that_. The pause lengthened uncomfortably as each wrestled with their own doubts before Knuckles could bear the silence no longer,

"Where abouts are you? I think you're on my left and slightly in front".

"Hold on a sec, don't make a sound", the echidna obediently fell silent, wondering what Rouge could be up to before he heard a series of very high pitched squeaks and clicks; at the same time there was the very curious sensation on his fur – it was a bit like someone was tapping every individual hair on his left side softly with a minute hammer. _Of course_; had his hands been free he would have slapped his forehead; _she's a bat, she can see in the dark by sound – what's the words for that, echo-sight or something like that_. With baited breath, the guardian waited for the almost noiseless sounds to finish and, after a couple of seconds, dared to speak again,

"Any luck?"

"Umm, sort of", Rouge tried to think of the best way to explain what she had seen to someone without her gift of echolocation, "I can't tell distance very well, but you're about fifteen, twenty feet from me and slightly off to my right. But there are two things either side of you, I think they're what's holding you in place. We're in kind of a line; there are little groups of three arranged in a sort of parabola, a curve facing inwards".

"Wait, groups of three?" A tiny bird of hope fluttered in Knuckle's chest as the excitement became tangible even over his invisible voice; a smile grew over Rouge's face as she saw what he was driving at,

"Yeah, three's are one either side, and one in the middle, held in place".

"How many are there?" _There should be fifteen of us, which means forty-five in total_; the hammers were tapping once more and the guardian silently willed the bat to move faster, see what he could not; _come on Rouge, say that magic word_. For agonisingly long minutes he forced himself to stay perfectly still, not make a single sound that could have confused the signals Rouge was receiving and throw her off. Suddenly there was nothing, no more noises, then the silence was broken by the bat's relieved, excited voice,

"They're all there; fifteen groups as far as I can tell", Knuckles exhaled deeply with relief as it seemed their friend's lives had been spared as theirs had, hardly hearing the end of Rouge's report, "the middle one of each group's lower down that the other two, I think they're on their knees. Were you when you woke up?" The echidna tried to think back that far, but his memory had been too foggy and he couldn't say accurately,

"Not sure, I felt like I struggled upwards at some point but it's all a bit confused. Anyway, what I want to know is how we're both still alive, and how did you get taken? The shot was point-blank, I shouldn't be here".

"Don't say that", the bat really didn't want to go there right now; she'd see that moment again and again in her mind, Knuckles risking his own life because of her one moment of carelessness, "you're going to be fine". Picking up on the higher tone of her voice, the echidna tried to soothe her fears away,

"Hey Rouge, stay with me here; you're right, I will be fine, but unless we can get out of wherever we are now I don't rate our chances too highly. And anyway, time for you to answer my question; how were you beaten and what happened after I got hit?" Rouge wet her lips as she spoke her own piece,

"Thunderhawk and I realised you were still breathing but you needed help and for that you needed Sabre. More of those drones were coming in; Thunderhawk ran you back to the centre and I stayed behind to…"

"You stayed!" The echidna's voice rose to a low shout in both admiration and reproach; how could she have been so stupid, "why the hell did you do that, you wouldn't have stood a chance".

"Because you were hurt", she sounded miffed and almost immediately Knuckles regretted his sharp tone, "you said you'd have done the same again any day of the week, well so would I".

A lump rose in Knuckles' throat; he was in the same moment touched that Rouge had done something so brave to try and let him get help and deflated that she'd almost thrown away his sacrifice by making a foolish last stand. He was about to say something before there was a sudden sob from where the bat was; he was alert immediately,

"Rouge; hey babe, stay cool yeah?" There was a slight silence before her voice came back again; to his relief and confusion it appeared that, rather than crying, the bat was actually trying hard not to laugh,

"No you prat", there was a definite quaver in her tone and she forced herself to keep it in, "we just saved each other's lives and all we can do is shout at each other for doing it; shouldn't we be thanking ourselves?" There was an almost immediate snort as Knuckles saw the logic behind her words and fought the same battle she was; it was a hard struggle but they both eventually managed to keep a lid on it.

"I guess, old habits die hard", the guardian managed to say straight-faced, "we argued with each other over the Master Emerald, only right we should over more important things". _What did I just say?_

_What did he just say?_; Rouge was speechless, for the first time in too long there was no snappy comeback, no fast retort; Knuckles had just pretty much admitted that her life was worth more to him than the Master Emerald itself.

"Knucks", her voice was a whisper, her mouth suddenly dry, "you, you meant that?" The echidna thought fast; he had to wrap up the truth in a manner that wasn't disrespectful to his heritage – after a short pause, he started to answer,

"Yeah, I, er, I meant that, at the end of the day, the Master's, well, it's just a green stone; I've lost it before but, like you said, I managed to get it back; I might have needed help to do so but I always got it back. I mean, worst come to worst, even if the Master was to be lost forever, the island would just sit in the sea, I don't think it would sink – no great loss as far as I can tell. Compared to that, losing you's like living in a world of grey", he tried to face her directly as he finished, "you brought colour into my life Rouge, you and all the others made me see more than just green".

The bat's eyes were wet; in this dark, dingy room, she was finding everything she needed, everything she could have ever wanted. _But it's not just me_; strengthening herself and thinking as fast as he had, taking his admission as a cue, she had to reply and tell him her side of the truth,

"If I gave you colour, you gave me a place to belong", she smiled now, no room for tears in her tone, "I've been footloose since I was fourteen, never able to settle down however hard I tried. You let me do that, you even helped me by giving up part of your home for me. No-one's ever made that kind of sacrifice for me before, but then you did something better even than that"; _what else could I have done, I don't remember anything…_; "you offered me your family, even though you'd barely found it yourself, you said I could share it if I wanted to. I've missed mine for so long I've forgotten what it's like to be part of a family; you helped me find my feet within it. That's why I had to stay and let Thunderhawk get you as safe as he could; compared to what you've done for me, a last stand doesn't feel like much". She wanted nothing more than to hold him at this moment, but even now there was no give in whatever was holding her; she refused to give into frustration though and swiftly settled for the next best thing.

Knuckles, wiping his eyes on his shoulder, felt the hammers tapping again and relaxed under their ministrations, sorry only that he couldn't do the same and reassure his soul mate that her decision had been the right one. The sonar pulses were like soft caresses, each one soothing a little more of his worry and building his assurance that, whatever came next, Rouge and he would be more than up to the challenge of handling it. He spoke only two words, for that was all that was needed,

"Thanks batgirl". In silence, in total darkness and in the base of their most fearsome adversary to date, both Mobians knew only peace.

XXX

"Okay, done"; Big pricked his ears at the sound of the hedgehogs voice and pushed his way back into the cabin, noting her sitting on the end of his bed lacing up her last shoe, her Piko Piko Hammer close at hand. She smiled up at him, licking her lips hungrily as she saw the pair of long, sinuous forms he had coiled around his left hand,

"Mmmm, eels", she remembered the last time the large cat had treated her and Cream to some of these worm-like fishes in the summer when they'd come to visit; despite their unappetising appearance when Big was done with them they tasted like nothing else on earth, "great, I'm starving; oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have scoffed your lovely supper last night".

"Your need was far greater than mine", the cat chuckled, delighted to see a smile break out on her face even if he could tell that, like her entire body language, it was feigned, fraught with concern for what was happening to the others. The cat lowered his ears and eyes as that fact sealed the deal for him; _I can't stop her – even now, she won't be dissuaded. But I can help her plan what she's doing next._ Shaking himself down, fighting to keep his spirits up like Amy was, Big began to boil the pan of water necessary to cook their new meal.

"Well, these'll be a while, but you're not going until you've eaten again, got it?" He looked at Amy sternly but to his surprised, rather than acting surly, the hedgehog laughed and pointed outside,

"No problem big guy, look outside. I haven't been asleep that long, it's barely daybreak – not even he could have done too much in a few hours right? Right?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously as the cat didn't answer, pretending to be inspecting his eels more closely, "Big, what is it?" she demanded, realising something was amiss with her assessment,

"Well, it, er", the cat began, wondering if there was a way to put this delicately; if there was he couldn't see it, so instead he simply went right in, "that's not dawn Ames, that's near midnight. You've been asleep nearly fourteen hours".

The hedgehog leapt up like a scalded cat, panic in her eyes as she darted for the door,

"Oh my, fourteen, he could have done anything", fear took over as she snatched up her hammer and stowed it away, "I can't wait here, I've gotta…", it was as she touched the door handle that the realist within her managed to reassert control; _I can't go because I haven't got what I came here for yet – take a breath and just chill for a second_; with a concentrated effort, Amy breathed in deeply and slowly released her grip on the door knob, turning around slowly on the spot as she restated her next sentence, "…I gotta sit down, eat and think what I'm going to do next".

"Atta girl", Big let out the breath he'd been holding; for a fatal moment he was afraid he'd have to go play another game of hunt the hedgehog through the swamps of Mystic Ruins; he set the water to the right temperature as Amy retook her place next to the cat, sitting casually on the end of the bed, unsettled by sitting still but smart enough to know it was the only way she was going to get anywhere in this situation,

"While you're there", Big flicked a glance her way and she straightened up, "you can tell me what your plan is and everything that happened; sorry, but it was a little garbled last night and I don't think I got the full picture".

"I'm not surprised", Amy gave a weak smile, "I can barely remember what happened last night. But as for the big idea I've managed to come up with, it's not much".

"Maybe I can help improve it".

"Big the great schemer". Mildly affronted by this, the cat turned and poked her in the side gently, causing her to collapse backwards and giggle,

"Hey, quit it", she hauled herself upright and glared at him, "anyway, my plan is basically this…" As the eels boiled together in the pot Big had prepared for them, the cat listened intently, pausing only to add ingredients as they were needed to the broth as his unique, fertile mind worked on Amy's seed of an idea, hoping to cultivate something that could give her a chance of success in the task she had set herself.

XXX

"Aaaaooooh, cut the woofer", the groan rose from somewhere right next to Knuckles, it was deep and throaty, containing a deep lake of pain at its midst, "the pinging's going right through my head". Obediently, Rouge stopped her echolocation and Knuckles whispered,

"Vector, that you?"

"Huh, ah, no talking", there was no mistaking the crocodile's voice, even if it was cracked and rusty, "ooh, that was definitely the worst pint I ever had; I'll never drink again". The echidna blinked for a few seconds before he hear Rouge snigger,

"Sorry Vec, that's not a hangover". The echidna squinted as it seemed something moved from close by, seeming to stand up in the gloom and swing around to try and see who had spoken,

"Really, shame; what happened, and where; hey", there was the clink of flesh on metal and there was suddenly anger in the larger Mobian's voice, "what's with the bracelets, I can't move".

"None of us can and don't even try; it's useless to shift whatever these things are" Knuckles told him, his wrists still sore from the last attempt he'd made at escaping; there was a second groan before the weak response came through,

"Please, not so loud; someone's boiling a kettle in my head and you're not helping", there were a few seconds pause as Knuckles tried not to laugh, then started as something slithered over his shoe and touched him on the back of the ankle,

"That you red?"

"Yeah", the echidna gasped, just about managing to restrain himself from stamping down hard on the crocodile's tail, "little warning next time?"

"Sorry, not thinking a hundred percent straight. There are things next to you, I can feel them too, I think they're those metal things we were scrapping earlier".

"Drones", Rouge cut in, sounding satisfied with this as she spoke again, "yeah, that'd fit; I though they sounded Mobian, "so, that means we can assume we've been captured by Dimitri, all of us if I'm counting right".

"All?"

"She scanned around with her echolocation", Knuckles explained, "Rouge thinks there are fifteen groups of threes, two drones and one prisoner, and there were fifteen of us if you count all the Brotherhood".

"Damn it, we lost then" the croc swore under his breath, guttural anger in his tone as he withdrew his tail; Knuckles heard it swishing over the floor as Vector settled down again. After a very short silence, Knuckles' thirst for knowledge consumed him once more,

"What happened to you in the centre; I was taken out in the corridor and Rouge made sure Thunderhawk could try to get me to Sabre; how were you KOed?" There was a grim chuckle from next to him and he sensed rather than saw the crocodile's narrow snout swing towards him,

"Rouge succeeded then", there was a triumphant exclamation from the other side of the room as the echidna rolled his eyes; _so much for holding one over on her_; "but it was Shadow, he's the black hedgie right?"

"Yeah, Shads is the black one; what happened to Thunderhawk?"

"No idea", Vector said sharply before that line of questioning could continue; he needed to let the other two know about his side of the story, "but things were getting' pretty desperate by then. They were comin' at us from at least four ways; even Cream an' Sabre were in the thick of it by then. I was doin' ok until I heard someone scream, then I took my eye off the ball for a second; next thing I know I'm doubled over and somethin' slammed into me gut like a wrecking ball, then all I see is red and bam, here I am". Something scratched at the back of Knuckles' mind, he saw something like a pattern emerging here, but what was it? He had woken first, then Rouge, but now it was Vector, what was there that…that was it! The order of them,

"I got it", the echidna gave a low shout, carrying on over Vector's moan of pain, "we're waking up in the order we were taken down in; listen, I was hit first, then Rouge, then you Vec, we're waking up in that order".

"So whoever wakes up next will be the, er, the fourth one to have been taken down by those drones" Vector mused as he contemplated his pounding headache; though muted by the pain and unfamiliar circumstances, his sharp mind was rapidly rediscovering its sharp point, "that's a bit neat isn't it?"

"Isn't what?" Knuckles asked confused,

"That we're all waking up so precisely", the crocodile shook his head, though the movement couldn't be seen by the others in this prison, "there's a nice order to this, and think about it, that was a battle royal we were all in and if a fight's anything it's chaos. Some of us should have been hit harder'n others; I dunno know what those guns were spewing out, but some of us should have got bigger doses".

"He's right as well", Rouge cottoned on to what the crocodile was trying to say and it made sense, "you were shot at point blank range; I was further away when I was taken down. If anything, I should have woken up before you if this energy theory's right". Knuckles turned it over in his mind, trying to put the words into context; he was just about to voice a reply to this but choked it off; suddenly there was no time for discussions about why they had all been captured, where they'd been taken and why they were waking up in the order they were; with a collective moan of effort and pounding headache, the effect of Dimitri's attack, containing the exact amount of energy as the blasts of his drones, wore off.

XXX

_Red cloak with black trim or black cloak with velvet trim – one problem with being away so long, all my clothes are completely out of fashion._ Just for once, Dimitri actually regretted not having his impulsive granddaughter nearby; whatever faults you could lay at her door, and thoughtlessness, naivety and a lack of table manners would have to be amongst them, Lien-Da had immaculate dress-sense. Still, if wishes were fishes there'd be no room in the river – realising he was nearly out of time, the grandmaster sighed and went for the timeless old favourite of a black cloak with a red trim and interior. Having buffed up his armour as much as was possible, Dimitri quickly donned his cloak and, deciding to dispense with the helmet for this, moved to speak to his brother's descendents and their friends; _if I had a struggle with Amy_; he thought glumly for a minute; _this lot are going to be impossible_.

XXX

It was a riot of whispering; assurances of health were swapped, prayers of thanks and gratitude offered to whoever happened to be listening and residual headaches were forgotten in the light of everyone trying to talk to everyone else. There was rampant confusion and the volume increased amidst this semi-silent choir as messages were mixed up and the wrong ears caught messages meant for others, until one voice, realising that in the long run confusion could prove a more deadly enemy than anything their captor could unleash, rose to a shout and called the others down,

"Wait, everyone shut up", the noise died down as Spectre hissed into the blackness even his eyes couldn't penetrate, "now the most important thing is to find out if we're all here; some of us could have been separated and, let's face it, it'd be the sensible thing for Dimitri to do. Right, Thunderhawk?"

"Here". There was an audible sigh of relief from everyone as it seemed the bellicose sixth-father was still around. Containing his relief that his son had survived, Spectre carried on,

"Sojourner".

"Yes". Not such a big sigh this time; _I know I'm going to regret this but_,

"Athair?"

"Here as always ancient guardian". _More's the pity_; the black echidna grumbled for a second, for a split-second grateful that Dimitri seemed to have bolted Athair to the floor as well as the others before carrying on the roll-call,

"Sabre?"

"Yes, I'm fine".

"Locke?"

"Just about; head's pounding like a drum". There were a few sniggers at this before Spectre finished off the Brotherhood's list of names,

"Knuckles?"

"Here Spectre; let me take over – I know Rouge and Vector are here", without waiting for assent the current guardian started,

"Shadow?"

"Here Knucks" said a voice to his left, slightly disorientated as though pulled from deep sleep; conscience a little clearer, Knuckles carried on,

"Tails?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay; what about you?"

"Don't worry about me foxboy – Sonic?" There was a deafening silence, every ear straining for sound that didn't come,

"Sonic?" Knuckles repeated himself, fighting down the worry in his voice as he mouthed a silent plea for the persistent nuisance to, rather than pipe down, actually say something, "Sonic, are you there?" Another pause, taut nerves almost humming, before a soft, almost inaudible response,

"Yeah". Panic was quickly replaced with anger,

"Why the hell did you keep quiet; we're doing our heads in with worry and you stay stumm?"

"Sorry"; the same dead voice let Knuckles realised there was more to this than he could see and wasting no more time he carried on,

"Right, er, Cream?"

"Here Mr Knuckles, I'm okay". A smile touched the echidna's lips as he responded,

"Glad to hear it floppy, now what about you Charmy?"

"Hanging tough as always".

"Good, Espio?"

"Fine". There was a collective exhalation as that was it, all were present and accounted for; good in the short term as each was amongst friends, but overall, every one present was aware that now, each was helplessly in the thrall of their captor's whims.

XXX

All fifteen were awake now and, having pressed his ear to the door and assuring himself that they were as settled as it was possible for the to be given the circumstances, Dimitri slowly reached over and twisted a small button on the wall next to him.

XXX

The gloom was lifting; every head snapped upwards as, set high in the ceiling, lights began to shine gently, banishing the murk that was shoaled around the restrained warriors. Realising what was happening, Sabre took charge,

"Don't look at the lights, look somewhere else. Give your eyes time to adjust"; the doctor himself focussed on the indistinct shape in front and to the left of him, the outline becoming sharper as the light from above slowly increased in brightness and intensity. Slowly in Sabre's vision, the shape split into three distinct portions, the flanking parts dull and grey still, the other one more animated, perhaps a little colour within this section. The middle was also shorter than the other two components and; _wait, it's moving_. As his sight slowly adjusted to the increase in light levels, the echidna let out a gasp; it wasn't one thing at all, it was three distinct entities.

With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, all hopes were dashed from Sabre's thoughts; it had to be Dimitri who had captured them. There were a pair of those dreadful machines Dimitri had sent against them, rigid, immovable and each facing the opposite direct to the other. As he glanced at the figure in the middle, the medic realised why as well; by standing the way they were, the clamping arms of the drones were able to grip onto the arms of the prisoner between them. Held in place by those fearful pistons and claws, Tails couldn't even struggle properly, the fox's arms were well caught and he could do nothing with his feet bar risk a broken toe if he kicked out at his captors.

"Well, that settles it then", Vector intoned in a grim voice, looking around and seeing each of his friends held as he was, "we got beat and caught".

"So we'll just have to get ourselves uncaught" Athair said simply, rising up to give a mid-air horizontal press as the machines' grip wouldn't let him rotate his wrist enough to go vertical, "aww, no fair, great-uncle could have at least given me robots that fly, hey", he nodded at the far end of the room, over Sabre's shoulder, "what do you think those are?"

All fifteen heads swivelled to try and follow his gaze, though this was easier for some than for others; the trios had been arranged into a very loose sort of semi-circle, all facing inwards to a central point. Athair was on the extreme right of the semi-circle and thus the objects that had captured his attention were arranged along the wall on the left. Everyone eventually managed to catch a glimpse and what they saw wasn't exactly cheering; fifteen tubes, each of them constructed from cylinders of glass, stretching down from the roof to the floor of this place. However, what really caught the attention of those looking at them was that they were all unfinished; each tube had a gap of about six feet to the floor; there was no mistaking what these were for.

"Cells", Thunderhawk spat, fronting up anger and disgust to disguise his trepidation, "so he wants us to watch what he's doing from there".

"Nah, he wants us to hear him first", Rouge informed him, glancing around at each of the others as she recognised the arrangement Dimitri must have left them in, "I've been here before; we're all facing a central point so all our attention's focussed on what he does when he makes his grand entrance; he's going to bore us to death with speeches before he puts us in glass".

XXX

_Cheeky swine, my speeches aren't that bad_; Dimitri was mildly affronted by this statement from the bat; _try listening to Kragok explain the exact workings of an emerald blast gun and then say I'm boring with a straight face_. He wasn't going to take this bad-mouthing any more; with a grand flourish, he opened the door and strode into the room, head held high and eyes forwards as, like iron filings to a magnet, fifteen pairs of eyes locked onto him.

XXX

_So this is Dimitri_; Spectre thought silently, taking in every inch of his newly-revealed enemy; _this is the fiend that has bedevilled the guardians since the time of Edmund himself_. Despite his intensive scrutiny, the black echidna was mildly unimpressed; for all his so-called power, Dimitri didn't look like a deadly enemy. However, Spectre was careful not to be thrown off track by first impressions; if what had happened at Haven was anything to go by he was to be rightly feared. Without a sound, the free echidna made his way to the central point of the semi-circle and set about disproving Rouge's theories of him being a bad speech-maker.

"Welcome, guardians and friends; I have to admit I don't remember what this place is called, it has been in disuse so long, so I can call it only base alpha. So, welcome to base alpha".

"Can't say much for your hospitality", Shadow said bracingly, looking to the right and left of him as if offering proof in the form of his imprisoning drones. Not missing an opportunity to bait their captor, Locke added to the black hedgehog's assessment,

"Or the décor; come on, plain steel grey?" he rolled his eyes, "even I do better than that in my lab". Resisting the urge to make sure none of his so-called guests would speak for the remainder of his talking, the grandmaster pressed on,

"Be that as it may or may not be", he hid his smile as Spectre's eyes widened; _those were my words earlier_; "a necessary evil; I went through a lot of trouble to get you here and I'd rather you didn't all go and escape again".

"Oh, but where's the fun in that?" Athair questioned as he tried once more to press for a vertical handstand in the air, "anyway, if you're coming to tea like Sojourner said you might, I need to polish up the old tea set grandfather Tobor gave me; do you take milk and sugar?"

_Not even the other guardians would mind, remember what Sabre said about him – no, keep your cool, you're better than just randomly wiping someone out, tempting though it is_; Dimitri caught himself in time and, trying very hard to get the insane guardian out of his mind, he tried to recall the words he had come up with earlier; fortunately no-one seemed to notice Athair had thrown him out of his stride as he'd some it to everyone else as well; not even the other guardians had been expecting something like that – apparently not even deadly danger could instil a sense of rationality in to the hyper flying guardian.

"Well, er, maybe another time", Dimitri tried to cover himself before getting back to the meat of what he had to say, "but down to business; firstly, none of you have anything to be ashamed of – you all fought like the guardians of old and your ancestors would be proud of you". He had his eyes on the Brotherhood especially, most of them meeting his gaze unflinchingly, though shudders ran through them as the eyes of the foe became noticeable; it was as he came to Knuckles that the grandmaster paused, surprise suddenly etched in his face.

"Edmund?"

He knew that this was Knuckles, youngest of the Brotherhood and current guardian, but the resemblance was uncanny; if only he had been a hairs-breadth shorter Dimitri could have been looking once more at his elder brother. He took slow steps forwards, seeking any hint of fear or challenge in the younger echidna's face; there was nothing there but resolve, as though nothing Dimitri did could break his spirit. _So very like my brother_; the grandmaster stood so close to the guardian that their noses were almost touching, their breath ruffling the fur on each other's faces as Dimitri stretched out a hand to push back the dreadlocks that hid half of Knuckles face,

"Forgive me, but the reminder is unmissable". It was then that half his face exploded with concussive agony,

"You don't touch him".

XXX

Her training hadn't been used in a long time, but that didn't mean it had been forgotten; since she had realised she was held by robots, Rouge had been testing them and almost immediately found weakness. If she struggled at all, the grips tightened immediately, if she held still they relaxed. So she remained docile, not moving a muscle in her hands and wrists, feeling the ring of metal surrounding them gradually ease their crushing grip. Even when Dimitri had shown himself and his creepy eyes had flashed in her direction, the former spy managed to keep her arms perfectly still and continue her good work. She waited for her chance, and as the victor moved to antagonise her beloved, she knew then she had to take it.

Hands well-practised in slipping through restraints wrenched upwards, sliding free of the now feeble grips of the robots imprisoning her as she threw herself forwards in a flat out sprint. She was shoeless now, so kicking at Dimitri's armoured body would do far more harm than good; she had to pick her target carefully and go for the soft bits. Before anyone, least of all Dimitri himself, were aware she had broken free, she launched herself forwards and slammed the heel of her foot into the side of the technocrat's face, lips contorted into a battle snarl,

"You don't touch him", as the echidna struggled for balance she pressed her advantage for all it was worth, hammering at him with all the kicks she could snap out in the time she had, thundering them home as insults shot from her mouth with equal ferocity, "you foul, kidnapping, evil...gaahhhhaahh!"

An invisible noose tightened immediately around her neck and hauled her off the floor, cutting off her air supply and choking her. She was suspended freely, feet flailing in the air and she clawed at her throat, trying to loosen whatever force this was that was strangling her.

"I AM NOT EVIL!"

XXX

Blood thundered through Dimitri's veins; of all the things he had been called, all the insults both he and his legion were forced to bear, that was the most spiteful and painful of all. He dimly felt the pain in his face but ignored it as he glared around at the others,

"I offer immortality, a release from the jaws of death; how can that be evil? I will liberate people from the weakness of the flesh, yet I am taunted, cat-called and obstructed for trying to do so; why? Do you want to die? Does anyone want death?"

"LET HER GO!" The panicked shout broke in on his tirade; looking at the source, the grandmaster saw the guardians' mask of resolve slip; he was straining at his restraints, threatening to topple them in his effort to break free and reach…the bat! Fury flushed out by dread, Dimitri cut off the power that was choking her, noticing her struggles were far more feeble now. She descended to earth, her eyes only half-open, fluttering between full awareness and coma as she fought to breathe through her injured throat. _I should have had more control than that_; the grandmaster thought amid the cacophony that had sprung up from his actions, everyone shouting at him and fighting to break free, the guardians testing the restraints he had placed on their powers as well as those on their paws. As Rouge fell to the floor, Dimitri knelt by her side, ignoring Knuckles' resumed threats and curses as he inspected the damage; it didn't look too good. Her throat was badly bruised, one or two small beads of blood staining the white fur of her neck, the breathing shallow and wheezy. There was no other option; though he had wanted to avoid it for as long as was possible, Dimitri didn't have a choice now; with a pulse of thought, he summoned the Bloodstone to him.

XXX

With a crack, all the frenzied shouts in the room was stilled as the great red gem appeared, glowing malevolently behind the form of its kneeling master. Its crimson facets flashed as it rotated gently, perfectly balanced upon its tiny point; Dimitri held up a hand and in response it glowed more brightly, suffusing the room with a red glow like a sunset.

"What are you doing?" Knuckles demanded, throwing himself forwards once more as he saw the power echoed by a red light around Dimitri's gauntlet, "stop, don't you dare…"

"I shall heal her guardian"; the response wasn't shouted, it didn't need to be for the simple fact that, if he was lying, there was nothing any of the others could do for their friend. Slowly, red glow still present, the grandmaster touched his gauntlet to the throat of the injured bat, well aware of Knuckle's eyes boring into his back as he did so. The power seeped in, doing the work he commanded it to do.

XXX

There was a groan from the floor and Knuckles sagged down almost to his knees, his captors the only thing stopping him making it to the ground. From here, the guardian saw Rouge's eyes flicker open properly, and then focus on the face above her; with a scream of rage and violation, the bat pushed herself away, scrabbling backwards away from Dimitri as he made to rise to his feet, looking up at her apologetically,

"Forgive me Rouge; the injury you sustained was an act of rashness that I deeply regret". The bat lowered her guard fractionally, cocking her head as she tried to make out if he was lying or not when Spectre saw Dimitri's face,

"Why? You never minded getting your hands dirty before, why the change of heart?"

"Two reasons guardian"; with a gesture and a second red glow from his hand, Rouge froze up completely, not even her eyes were able to move as Dimitri carefully wrapped his power around her and gently levitated her up a few inches; as he moved her back to her former prison, he continued his conversation, "my past", he set the bat down and carefully had the drones take hold of her again, a little more tightly this time as he finished, "and my promise".

"What promise?" Locke butted in; he may have been able to see what Dimitri meant by past; after fighting so long, he was probably as sick of the continual war as the guardians of the time had been. Dimitri didn't answer immediately, but as he turned to give an answer, Locke received his answer from a most unexpected source,

"The promise he made to Amy".

XXX

Sonic's voice was deadened by pain and loss; only after waking up and remembering what had been said when he had been at Dimitri's mercy had the full weight of his folly been revealed. She was gone now and probably suffering from what this maniac had done to her; Sonic would have quite literally given the earth to be by her side, help her through this, say what he now knew had shone in his heart since it didn't matter when. _But I can't_; he blue hedgehog glanced up at his friends, hoping that by explaining the circumstances faster than Dimitri could, he'd be free sooner; it was a faint hope, but the only one he had.

"When he guided Amy towards that red pebble, after she controlled out of Haven, she made him", he cut off for a minute, trying to imagine what courage it must have taken for her, lost, alone and led towards her unknown fate by something that had forced her to attack someone she cared about, to say those words as a final request, and failed miserably. Hot tears snuck from the corner of his eyes as he managed to forced his thick tongue to speak once more; _the sooner I say it, the sooner I can find her – Dimitri said we'd meet again_; "he had to swear he wouldn't kill his enemies when he was free; she made him say that".

There was a silence, broken only by the slight clink of metal as Dimitri bowed his head, respectful of both Amy's heroic statement and the raw agony of Sonic's words; all who could see him must have known the blue hedgehog was suffering terribly. In the end, it was youthful exuberance that ended the period of reflection,

"So where's Rosie now? What did you do with her you, you…"

"She's safe", Dimitri cut Cream off before she could utter the direst curse she knew of, looking at them all sternly, "I took her to her apartment in Station Square after I released my great grandchildren. Hopefully, she will heal from the wounds I dealt her, unwilling as I was to do so, but I will not forget her words; none of you will be harmed or touched whilst you are here".

"So, er, what are you going to do with us then?" It was Sabre who asked the fatal question; shrugging his shoulders as much as he could, he elaborated his thoughts, "we are your sworn enemies after all; will you imprison us until you have enslaved all…"

"Stop right there", Dimitri cut him off with a glare, speech grating through his gritted teeth, "I do not enslave anyone; everyone is given a choice to choose my path, I cannot understand why they would refuse. Death is the enemy, the only enemy; I can conquer it forever, but the echidnas of Angel Island and the occupants of the realms below must help me to do this. The road will be hard, but eventually everyone will be saved and death beaten forever".

"You can't beat death", Espio intoed solemnly, the chameleon's tone rational as he tried to be the voice of reason, "it's a part of life, everything must have an end".

"NO!" The grandmaster marched up to the captive reptile and thrust his face forwards; the heatless flames from the Bloodstone silhouetting him like a mannequin in front of a raging fire, "he took my, our, mother from us; he'll take no more innocent. Life is the greatest gift of all, it should not, should never be snuffed out like a candle by a sadistic gust of wind. Going by your logic, I should slit the throat of your friends and you'd eventually get over it, is that what you're saying?" Seeing the fanaticism in the echidna's eyes, the chameleon averted his gaze; _words can't solve anything here, just appease him or he may well act out that threat_;

"Forgive me, I may have as spoken rashly as you acted moments ago". The slight jab to the memory brought the result Espio had hoped for; Dimitri straightened up and tugged the ruff of his cloak, sneering a deep breath through his nose at the chameleon,

"Very well, I see you still doubt me; no matter. I shall save them all, and none of you shall stop me".

"Do what you can Dimitri", Spectre stood tall, imposing despite his restraints, a very faint, flickering green aura around his body beating back the cancerous influence of the Bloodstone, "we will fight you every step of the way. Imprison us, we shall break free, fight us, we will fight to our last breaths as we did at Haven". To the black echidna's well-hidden consternation, rather than engaging him in a wasteful war of words, the technocrat simply laughed, not cold or cruel, but natural, genuine mirth echoed around the room.

"I, I'd expect nothing less from the guardians", he managed to gasp at last, scraping back a slight measure of respectability after the sudden affliction of the giggles, "but the imprisonment will only be temporary, for all of you".

There were several glances exchanged here, most of them worried; there were far too many unpleasant ways for that statement to be interpreted. Of course, Athair needed no interpretation,

"Oh goody, you'll be able to make it to tea then?" Dimitri receive the impression it wasn't only him who was forcibly keeping his hands in his pockets; Spectre was visibly praying for strength while Locke, the closest of the Brotherhood, seemed to be attempting to strangle his grandfather. Inwardly assuring himself that the only way he'd ever see Athair at tea was if the flying echidna happened to gate-crash a chimp's tea party at a zoo he happened to be visiting, Dimitri carried on,

"Yes, yes I suppose I will, once I've dealt with you all", he allowed himself a slightly satisfied smile as he recalled how he'd managed to solve the problem of neutralising the guardian's threat without harming them – without wanting to appear immodest, it was a simply genius idea, "once I get the communications working, I shall contact my grandchildren at Necronopolis and they shall send a team of Legionnaires to construct the device that will finish this family feud. I shall use it to remove both the threat of the guardians and", his eyes roved over the forms of Sonic and shadow especially, "those others who can focus Chaos energies".

"Dimitri", the voice was a strangled croak; the blood had drained from Locke's face as he drew a line; there was only one machine he had ever read about or heard of that had the power to do what Dimitri wanted; _the machine that started all of this, he can build it again_. Guessing the scientist's announcement, the grandmaster piped him at the post to unveil his surprise,

"Yes, the Chaos Siphon will drain out your powers; you will be unable to pose a threat without the hated green to strengthen you. After that, you may do as you please", Sonic pricked his ears, "but you'll come to respect my enlightenment eventually and unburden yourselves from the fetters of mortality. However, time is getting on".

With a yell, Charmy was yanked off his feet, the drones on either side releasing their grips instantly as the Bloodstone focussed power into its creator and Dimitri used it to hold the bee still. Struggle as he might, the bee couldn't worm his way free from the hold Dimitri had around him and was dragged in mid-air towards one of the glass cylinders.

"Charmy", Vector inhaled deeply, furious and fearful beyond words of what the echidna was planning as the bee's inexorable course continued; _only one way to solve this_. With a roar of combustion, flames shot from the crocodile's snout, towards the immobile form of the puppet master. The smoke and fire obscured hi from view and for a fleeting second the croc was jubilant; maybe he'd scorched this snake, but as it cleared, his heart fell once more. He had avoided the attack inside a semi-opaque cocoon of redness, the flames of the crocodile's breath playing over the shield and dissipated by its presence.

"No need for that, your friend isn't going to be hurt, merely better restrained", the scientist explained as, with a final tug to dislodge Charmy's fingers from the base of the cylinder, the tube snapped downwards, the bottom sealing itself to the floor leaving the bee trapped in what was basically an unopening bottle; as he struggled and beat his fists on the glass, Dimitri remarked casually, "don't worry, there's air pumped in, food and water can also be administered so he's in no danger. It's just that those tubes are soundproof from the inside out; basically, you can hear me, but I can't hear you while you're inside, and I did want to talk to you before I left you in there; one-way conversations are so dull, nothing like a spot of arguing with the family to spice up a homecoming, don't you think?" As there was no immediate answer, Dimitri merely shrugged and, with the aid of the Bloodstone's power, took hold of the next prisoner to be interred.

XXX

The meal had been finished in silence; Amy's plan had consisted of about three sentences and was, in effect, a very short summary of what appeared to be a forlorn hope. Try as he might, Big couldn't see any real way to massively improve her chances of success. As he cleared her now empty plate away, a cold ball of ice began to coalesce in his stomach as he attempted for the last time to try and talk her down from this suicidal task she'd set herself,

"Amy, I can see why you want to do this but…"

"I don't want to", her voice was quiet but so suffused with wordless authority that the cat shut off his sentence instantly to listen; looking up, her eyes clouded by sadness, the pink hedgehog continued, "I need to do this Big; I made a catastrophic mistake, innocent or not, and I'm the only one with a chance to set it right. I need to take it and try; everyone else has stuck their necks out for me, I have to make a stand and try to save them from whatever it is Dimitri is planning". _Well, I never expected to succeed_; Big heaved a heavy, cold sigh as he realised the time had come; he couldn't delay this any longer.

"So I thought", with a slow grace, the huge cat slowly removed the yellow Chaos emerald from the satchel he wore, seeing how its light was mirrored in Amy's now hungry eyes, the hedgehog looking at her chance to return to Angel Island, "I know I can't stop you, but listen. The only thing I can say is, before you try and take on Dimitri, go to the Master Emerald shrine; if I remember rightly, there's another emerald there, the red one?" He watched Amy slap a paw to her forehead in revelation,

"Of course, that could double my firepower; thanks Big, I never thought of that. Any thing else you've seen that I haven't?"

"No, so, I guess this is yours now", turning his face away from what he was doing, he thrust the emerald forwards, feeling every nuance of pressure relieved from his hand as Amy slowly removed it from his fingers; only when there was no trace of it was registering on his fingers did he look again, still feeling that same dread that he'd just delivered her doom into her hands, "use it well and, and…" he couldn't finish, worry resurging through his body and choking off his speech. He looked away again, not wanting to add to Amy's already considerable burden with his own crying,

"Big?"

The hedgehog's voice parted the clouds of despair for a brief moment and let him see her again, her smile, faint and weary but still special, still cheering like nothing else could be, lifted his mood and filled him with confidence once more.

"Don't worry Big guy", Amy spoke with a confidence she didn't really feel, but then again this wasn't for her benefit, it was for his, "things'll all turn out all right in the end. I don't know what's waiting for me up there, but I'll do my best to set everything right. But I've got to go Big, there's no way I can walk away from what I've done; it's my responsibility to sort out whatever Dimitri's done. Sonic, Shadow, Tails; any of them would do the same if it had been them – I can't desert them now".

"I know Ames", the cat dried his eyes on the back of his paw, standing up and pointing towards the door, "but, I think it's time". Nodding and picking up her hammer, Amy strode out towards the door, the Chaos Emerald held firmly in her hand as Big trailed behind her, standing in the doorway as the light from his cabin highlighted Amy in the light of his stove. The hedgehog didn't notice, concentrating on drawing power from the stone she held, feeling it trickle into her body like a slow tide of fizzy water, tingling under her skin.

"Are you sure you can make it?" She nodded, having never felt surer of anything,

"I'm sure", looking up as she reached the level she knew she needed, the young hedgehog locked eyes with her friend for the last time and smiled once more, "thanks for everything Big; you always were a true friend". Before he could reply, before it became too painful to talk, she activated her new technique, the destination clear as a bell in her mind. Big shielded his eyes from the glare of the power and when he looked back, Amy was gone.

XXX

He stood there for a long time, watching the ground she had stood upon as though waiting for her to come back, even as a part of him postulated she never would. Slowly, eventually feeling the nip in the night air, Big sloped back inside his home, tugging the door shut behind him and sinking down in his chair. He was bone-tired yet sleep was far, far away; there was something he needed to do. Standing again and picking a twig from his bed, the cat set the tip in the fire and flipped to the next clean sheet of his sketch book, mind made up on his next picture. As the twig smoked and he sharpened it with a claw, the details were sharpened in his mind; _you have to come back from this Amy_; the way she had stood, the lines of determination and defiance in her pretty, young face; _I know you have to_; and the way she stood tall come what may. As he made the first lines, the page fragmented through the tears in his eyes, a single thought echoed through his head; _this can't be the last picture I draw of you!_

A/N: Next chapter, the end of all things. Can Amy find a way to stop Dimitri's schemes, or are her friends doomed to the fatal kiss of the Chaos Siphon? Can two Chaos Emeralds hope to compete with the power of the Bloodstone, and what will happen to Sonic if she fails and falls to the grandmaster's power?


	28. Chapter 27 No Hope, No Fear, No Pity

Chapter 27 – No Hope, No Fear, No Forgiveness.

A/N: Enjoy this chapter, but first I have a gauntlet to throw down:

**HHH – IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!** So, you have a mind that can break any code and reveal any cliff-hanger eh? Well, what say we have a little challenge on that – here's the deal. **Before** you read the rest of this chapter, you have to drop either a review or an e-mail to me, saying what you think is going to happen; you never know; if you're right, you might get a special prize…

TH – Well, I'm not all that worried, Seraph's armour's blast-proof, but then again it's a hell of a job trying to scrap author remains off a fancharacter, so ok I give; here's a new chapter for you. Now please, please just stay there and stay quiet; I might need your help in a minute (author points to where caffeine high Sonic characters are rampaging through his story and making certain changes – author notices one and goes white) TAILS NO, I FORBID IT! You can not write a bedroom scene involving yourself and Lien-Da; for the love of all that's holy it's a K+ fic and that's illegal in at least fifty states! Oooh, this is going to be a long day (author dons more protective gear and sets out to clear off mess, turning to TH). If I don't make it back, Seraph's yours – okay, you lot, let's rumble!

The tube slid to the floor with a mild tap, the imprisoned chameleon unable to make a dent in the glass surrounding him even using the sharpened point of his ninja stars. As he extended his influence to Sabre, Dimitri spoke over his shoulder,

"Don't bother trying to break out; that glass is coated with a shatter and impact proof coat of adhesive that can't be harmed by anything you have; it's also what makes the glass sound proof. So no point blunting your stars, or spurs on it", he might have looked hard at Sabre at this point before jerking his head sideways to indicate Knuckles, "that goes for you too".

"The prison hasn't been made yet that can stop us collectively" the guardian spoke back sneeringly, Tails nodding in assent as he recalled several daring rescues in the past.

"Well I do what I can" the grandmaster said chidingly, only serving to infuriate his youngest nephew more before adding almost as an after-thought, "oh, and before anyone tries, the first person who challenges me to a duel of honour – I will accept and you will not walk away; I am a lot more powerful than any of you, even you Thunderhawk", the lavender echidna glowered at the mention of his name even as he subconsciously rubbed out that mental plan; Dimitri was telling the truth. With the Bloodstone at his command, the Dark Legion commander had a far more powerful and potent connect to his power source, greater even than the guardians did to the Master Emerald with the possible exception of Edmund himself.

He didn't press the point for gloating, or at least obvious gloating, was not something he found enjoyable; instead he continued to ferry his captives from one form of imprisonment to another, their struggling quashed by his telekinetic grip. He had hoped that by ferrying the smallest first, he'd prove to the most dangerous members of those who stood against him that he really did mean what he said about not wanting to hurt anyone. With a gesture, he reached for the next one to be moved.

XXX

With a start, Tails felt something like a rope wrap itself around his waist and slowly, irresistibly, pull him upwards into the air. The kit struggled, fought against the force with everything he had; for a brief second he thought he could make headway, but then more ropes of the same persuasion caught around his arms, legs and tails, stopping him from moving and twisting him so he was laid flat on his back. He saw that he was lifted upwards a little; then, without visual provocation, he floated along towards the waiting capsule designated for him. It may have been enjoyable had the situations not been so dire; here he was, moving completely independently of gravity or forces of motion of any kind. He was still for a second, but as the rim of the tube made itself visible to the bottom of his eyes, he threw himself forwards in one final effort but his bonds held firm, rotating him so his feet touched the floor. As if that was a signal, they fell away completely, letting him stand on his own two feet once more; as he fought to regain his balance, with a tiny hiss, the glass tube extended from above and touched the floor, sinking into the rubber seal and the bottom and seeming to vulcanise itself shut.

Tails knew better than to struggle; not that he trusted Dimitri further than he could have thrown him, but one look at the interior of the glass was enough to confirm that the glass was unbreakable from this side; the slightly grey coat that clung to the inside of the tube was the same that covered the windshield of the Tornado. _Hasn't failed me yet, so I can't see it failing here_; throwing the echidna a filthy look, the fox sat down on the soft rubber interior of the tube, curling his tails under him as a makeshift cushion.

With a grim fascination, Tails watched to see who'd be next for the zero-G treatment; for a second he thought it might be Rouge as she rose a little in the air, but as she sank back down he realised she must have been strained from being stood up so long. It was as Dimitri pointed he realised it must have been Locke; Knuckles' father was lifted upwards and twisted as he had been, though to his credit he fought still. He was in possibly a better position to try and escape than either the fox, the Chaotix or Cream, who had all been imprisoned before the technocrat had moved on to the Brotherhood.

Tails idly wondered if he'd be able to communicate with his lab partner by discolouring the coat of anti-shatter chemicals into words, when he suddenly shot to his feet; Locke had nearly broken free, he was almost touching the floor as he broke the hold Dimitri had over him. _Come on, just a little more…no, no luck_; he sank back down, despondent as the blip in the flight path was reversed, the guardian carried like a live coffin into the tube next to him. As Locke found his feet again, his escape route was cut off by the tube from above; Tails saw his mouth move violently and was suddenly glad that he couldn't hear what Locke was saying; it was probably not fit for ears as young as his. He looked over to see who was next; his guess was Sabre, when he noticed Dimitri seemed to be taking a break, hunched over and inspecting his gauntlets.

XXX

_What was that?_; the grandmaster looked at his hands accusingly, even as he realised they could not be responsible; _that disturbance in the force, what caused it?_ He wasn't sure, but there was one way to find out and he had the time to spare. The chamber glowed like the inside of a furnace and he soared through the energy, his spirit seeing what his eyes could not. Unsure of where to look, or even what he was looking for, he spread his net over the whole of Angel Island equally, sensitive for anything that may have triggered the flux in the Chaos energies of the Bloodstone. _Wait, there it…was?_; for the first time since he had reclaimed his flesh, Dimitri tasted the first trickling of adrenaline and nervousness – for a second he had thought there was something, but even as he made to shrink his attention over the anomaly, it had vanished in the blink of an eye. Strangely, his vision was dimmed around the area he had been trying to scan, as though something had stirred up the murk from the bottom of a previously crystal clear lake. Recognising that this may warrant and even require further attention, Dimitri kept his senses steady where they were as he moved back to his original task, though now there was a greater sense of urgency, more roughness in his hold as he kept half a mind on what had triggered the sudden reaction from the strength of his pride, joy and life.

XXX

As the glow faded, Amy wasted no time in racing into the shrine of the Master Emerald, seeing the green glow at the interior of the edifice used to protect one of the most powerful energy sources in existence. But Amy wasn't interested in the Master this time, all she needed was the power of the comparatively tiny jewel that the Master was currently neutering in power, the red Chaos Emerald. _With the yellow and the red, I've got a better chance of doing this_; with this hope burning in her, the rose hedgehog sprinted into the shadow of the building's lee, rapidly moving into the cooler interior of the shrine. As she moved towards the centre, she suddenly slewed to a halt, looking down at the emerald Big had given her; with a sickening lurch she realised it was dimming, the power it contained dying out. _No, you can't leave me now_; the pink hedgehog was stricken with fear as she was left with only a single emerald to stand against Dimitri with. Trembling with sudden trepidation, she tried to draw on it as she had not moments before; she let out a gasp of disbelief and denial as her worst fears were confirmed; compared to the tide she'd unleashed earlier, this was a mere trickle, barely enough to tingle her skin. _Still, it got me here_; Amy blinked back tears, setting her face as she tried to stay positive; _I can still get the red one and that should do – not like I had high hopes anyway, but that's immaterial now._

Stepping forwards again, the faint emissions of the yellow jewel getting feebler with each stride, Amy reached the centre of the shrine, the Master Emerald as always on its dais at the exact middle of the room. Ignoring it totally, the pink hedgehog ran towards the pedestal off to the right, housing the red Chaos Emerald; the smaller gem reminding her uncomfortably of the Bloodstone as she reached for it. Heart thundering with hope, she lifted it from its pedestal…only to find it as dry and lifeless as the one she held already.

XXX

Though still disconcerted, Dimitri let the net fall from most of the island, keeping only a close eye on the immediate area around the anomaly; he was on the cusp of victory and could afford no mistakes now. Still, with all his nephews bar one caged, he grunted as Spectre fought him both physically and with the powers of the hated green, the strength of the Master Emerald threatening to negate the Bloodstone's grip on the eldest guardian, this matter could be explored more fully in a matter of minutes.

XXX

With an inarticulate howl of fury, Amy hurled both emeralds as far down the corridor as she could; it was simply not to be borne. _I came here from nothing with no intentions other that to help save my friends, and now, thanks to these flaming stones, I can't even do that! Curse it, curse all the Chaos Emeralds, Master Emeralds and Bloodstones forever_; breathing heavily, she whipped out her hammer and advanced towards the helpless emeralds menacingly with the full intention of reducing them to the dust they had sprung from. She pulled it back for the first shattering blow, the emeralds lying in full view of her hammer, and suddenly it fell; it was then that, thanks to nothing other than pure luck, her quest continued.

Rather than connecting with the red emerald full-on, her hammer glanced off, one of the cut facets deflecting her strike and, as a consequence, sending the stone spinning into the air back towards its harasser. Amy gasped at a pang of pain in her shoulder as though hit with a catapult shot; instinctively she snapped a hand to her injury, inadvertently clasping the red emerald to herself. _Oww, that was dumb, maybe I should just leave them instead_; it wasn't until she twisted her head to look at the offending stone that it sank in.

The ache in her shoulder had gone already.

_That means…_; holding the stone so tightly the edges of it cut into her gloves, the hedgehog felt her spirits rise unstoppably as tiny dribbles of strength for the stone, similar to the one that must have fixed her shoulder far faster than nature could have, sank into her. Another yell echoed around the shrine, this time one of elation; _...I can still do this!_

Wasting no more time, the pink hedgehog scooped up the yellow Chaos Emerald and ran, no, she didn't run; her soul had wings and she flew, buoyed up with renewed hope and dedication to her cause, back to the entrance. _It must be something to do with the Master Emerald_; her mind was feverish with excitement, mad for things to consider as the fact she would have something meaningful to resist Dimitri with; _it must somehow counteract the Chaos Emeralds – I'll have to ask Knuckles about it, that was dumb not to do it earlier_. She had never thought to ask the echidna what he did with the Chaos Emeralds when he had with them; she simply assumed he hid them with the Master and that was that – such a small but potentially deadly oversight now. There was so much she didn't know, so much she needed to ask her friends when she'd freed them; happiness hardened into resolve as she realised that thirst of information would go unquenched if Dimitri had his way. Bright sunlight beckoned up ahead and she burst into forth into it, already harvesting the power she needed to make her last jump. A slight smile twitched on her lips even in such a serious moment as this; _I can use the thing that damned me now, to find the snake that I set free from it._

XXX

The net tightened instantly; all at once, Dimitri lost sight of all objectives bar this, a possible threat to his supposed mastery of Angel Island. Shrinking his sphere of influence to as tight as he could manage, still obstructed by the strange interference that muddied his emerald powers, Dimitri just about suppressed a gasp of shock. _Little ones_; he recognised the trademark signatures of Chaos Emeralds instantly; _they impart their power to another, but there's no-one left who can use it so_. The grandmaster flicked his eyes around the room, noticing there was only Sonic left to put away and he certainly couldn't use the strength of a Chaos Emerald at this distance. He had captured everyone who could have been a threat, there was no explanation for this, unless it was merely a coincidence. _Yes, that may work_; the scientist mulled that theory over – it may have been possible for a mind, partially and maybe only temporarily free from the fetters of linear thinking, to come across Chaos emeralds and, without realising it, draw power from them. He'd have to do some experiments when he had the time – at what point of the emotions was a mind so fraught it could…; _fraught with fear!_

Cold slush filled his stomach as memories of his last night as a helpless wraith flooded back to him; _I made her use the power by subjecting her to terror that she should never have felt, but I gave her the power in the first place! I touched the little one, her body had to change to let me store it, and now she can use it as well as any guardian!_ Spurred into action by what must be happening next, and what Amy planned to do with the emeralds she had, Dimitri came to a decision; he had to get the others secure and there was not time for subtlety. Seizing Sonic roughly, the echidna catapulted the hedgehog towards the tube, aware in the back of his mind that all the time more and more power was being called on. He slammed Sonic down and pulled the base of the tube into place so hard a network of airline cracks slid upwards with a resounding tinkling noise. With the last few seconds he had before the symptomatic flare of a Chaos Control, he tried to compose himself for meeting her once more even as a tiny fraction of his mind formed a grotesque, heathen thought in the quagmire of doubt he was now in; _to come after me, to help save them, a true girl in a million._

XXX

Spectre had his face so close to the glass of his prison his breath was misting it up and he had to keep wiping it away with his gloves. Despite the Mobian-made fog problem, he couldn't mistake the evidence of his own eyes; Dimitri must have been rattled by something that he could not as yet sense. The black echidna was sufficiently accomplished in the art of reading body language to see that his nemesis was clearly shaken – the way he had almost brutally forced the blue hedgehog into his prison, so unlike the most gentle flight he had experienced even as he fought against it, was a sure sign of nerves. Looking away for a second, Spectre rubbed his chin, trying to think both sensibly and quickly; _nothing's changed that I can see, so I can assume that whatever's eating him must be something to do with Chaos powers, there's no other logical explanation._ It was the only thing he could think of that made any sort of sense for he had felt his own ability to feel for Chaos emeralds in the vicinity muted by some machination of the Bloodstone, neutering his guardian powers completely. Therefore, it was the only thing Dimitri could feel that none of the others could; _what could have changed though – what could scare him now when he has the Bloodstone?_ It was as that question entertained his mind that another red glow suffused the air; for a second the black guardian dismissed it as another light show from the dark Legion's commander – it was only when he looked sideways at Thunderhawk's frantic pointing that he deigned to look again, concerned by what was forcing his son to press his face as close to the glass as that.

XXX

It was there, all in her memories; from the red light in her dreams, through the awe she had been assailed by the first time she had lain eyes upon it to the horror and hatred that engulfed her when she realised its true purpose and what its master meant to do with it, the Bloodstone stayed firmly embedded in the consciousness. The great red ruby reared up as she channelled the power from the smaller version in her paws; she was nearing the threshold but she wasn't there yet. In her mind, she saw her reflection dance upon the surface of the stone, how it had blinked, smiled then silently begged for freedom; _and I granted her, or him, that freedom_; she snarled, fury in her heart as the she forced the Chaos Emeralds to work faster, give her more power while the sight of the Bloodstone was clear in her mind. As soon as she was ready, when she knew her time had come, the pink hedgehog gripped her emeralds tightly and spoke in a hushed whisper,

"Get ready Dimitri, I'm coming for you. Chaos Control now!"

And over half the island away, almost as if hearing her very words, the echidna in question called on his own store of power and readied himself for what he must do next.

XXX

_I am not seeing this_; Sonic shut his eyes; surely that last trip from Dimitri had pushed him over the edge; _that was not the flare from a Chaos Control and Amy did not just appear next to the Bloodstone_. His first instinct was disbelief and he clutched onto it with the ferocity of a limpet; Amy was safely hidden away in Station Square, far away from Dimitri, protected from what he could do – there was just no way she could be here, hammer in one hand, a pair of Chaos Emeralds in the other, eyeing up the armoured echidna like he was nothing more than a tin can to be pounded flat for the recycle centre.

"Hello Dimitri".

It was in that infinite second, as her voice pierced the silence that had descended on the room, that reality hit CTRL/ALT/DELETE on his whimsical fantasy; Amy was here now and, dreadful certainty slammed into him as almost without conscious thought he crushed himself to the front of his glass prison, she was putting herself in the gravest danger imaginable.

"Run Amy, get out of here!"

XXX

She saw the others react to her, casually noticing the shock, horror and, her lips twitched into a smile, hope that brightened some of their faces. Sonic appeared to be shouting something to her and she recognised he looked abjectly terrified before her greeting was answered,

"Amy", she faced front to see Dimitri looking deflated and weary; though unable to focus on her, his eyes still managed to convey some measure of reproach to her presence here, "why did you come here?" _I already know the answer_…

"Because I made a mistake", the hedgehog replied, shifting her grip on the hammer to let it rest lightly in both her hands, her pose ready to spring equally from attack to defence at a second's notice at the same time she sought to draw more energy out of the emeralds she held; she'd need every scrap to succeed, "innocently or not, I still set you free from the Bloodstone. I intend to correct that mistake", she raised her face to meet his eyes, face serious as the grave, "and only the death you fear so much will stop me trying". Out of the corner of her eye, she saw most of the imprisoned Mobians lower their expressions into looks of foreboding and dread for her sake.

XXX

He needed time to think; he couldn't didn't, would never want to hurt Amy again – he had to delay the conflict as much as was possible to give himself a chance to end this bloodlessly,

"You can't hope to defeat me Amy, I…"

"There's always hope", she cut him off sternly, beginning to stalk towards him, the Piko Piko hammer head casting a doom-laden shadow towards his own, "I can and do hope to beat you; it remains to be seen if I can". The statement threw him, cost him valuable seconds; for some reason he couldn't get the sight of that massive pink mallet out of his mind – it crowded his mind, made it hard to concentrate on the important thing in this final struggle. It was as the shadow of the hammer merged with his own, sending a few butterflies fluttering in his stomach, that he took a flash of inspiration from the presence of the weapon; _hopefully I can call on her sense of fair play – that should buy me some more seconds_.

"A second please Amy", he held up a hand, summoning a very faint red glow around it as a slight warning for her to stop, "as you can see, I am unarmed, yet you threaten me with your hammer drawn".

"So get yourself a weapon" the hedgehog replied, not lowering her own for even a second, wary for any hint of treachery; nodding and concealing his smile as his plan worked after a fashion. There was a trace of redness in the air as Dimitri called forth the one item of his ceremonial armour that still retained its edge in a fight. _My skills with a blade were keen once_; the echidna thought to himself as he guided is weapon to his hand; _maybe a show of skill, a little fencing, will be enough to make her lay down her arms?_ Somehow, he doubted it.

XXX

This was torture, worse than torture; Sonic fervently wished that the glass was soundproofed both ways; at least then he would have been spared the speech that let Amy sign her own death warrant. For a fleeting second when she had taken her first step forwards he had been consumed by the hope that she would simply lay her hammer down at Dimitri's feet, but then he saw her face. _She wore that look when she chased me_; the blue hedgehog gently rested his head on the glass in front of him, the memories tasting like a bitter wine as the thought that soon they could be all he had left of Amy, bubbled back to the surface. _I was a fool, a hundred times a complete, utter idiot_; only now when he stood to lose the one close to his heart that he had consciously ignored, did the sense of loss bite all too keenly. Hot tears burned a path down the fur of his cheeks as he could not look away, couldn't miss a second of this, the last time he may ever see his life's light.

XXX

Like solidified lightning, a silver bolt streaked around the crack in the door Dimitri had created with a little telekinetic push and homed in on his open paw. Snapping it shut with remembered ease of long practise, the grandmaster smiled as he tested the weight and balance of his keen blade, taking a couple of practise swipes to reacquaint himself with his sword, taking care to keep an eye on Amy's reaction; there was a slight jolt of panic as she remained completely impassive, not even blinking as he skilfully held the blade at an angle to shine the light into her eyes. Grateful that age had not dulled the sword's fine blade, Dimitri spoke,

"So let it begin; now we…" something whipped towards his chest and he parried desperately, the flat of his sword clipping the side of the Piko Piko hammer and diverting it from its murderous course.

Sword clashed against hammer haft, pink hearts cloven in twain by the sharp edge as Dimitri fought to keep them from blinding him, reminded of a conversation between Amy and Thunderhawk that had let him in on that little secret. Snarling at not being prepared fort he quick attack, he gave ground, seeking to reassert his feet and get within the sweep of the hammer; once there he could disarm the hedgehog and demand her surrender. He slid his feet backwards, waiting for his moment but, to his surprise and consternation, it didn't materialise – Amy kept up her attack relentlessly but not recklessly, there were no gaps in her defences even for a blade as fine and well-wielded as his. His arm rang with impacts of the heavier weapon against his guard, threatening to waver as she sought to bludgeon through his own defence right into him. Abandoning his original plan, the echidna set his teeth and stood firm; feeling the crash of the hammer on his sword, the strength in Amy's arm combined with the weight of the mallet almost forcing him to his knees. For a second he held then, with a great roar, threw her backwards and slashed out with his own weapon, his first offensive move that would draw the first blood.

XXX

She saw it coming a mile away; either he was underestimating her badly or, more likely, he was merely toying with her before ending it. Amy realised the sword was coming at about high stomach height and she skipped back out of range, holding her stomach in as she felt air skim over her dress, the attack had missed. Thinking on her feet, the hedgehog darted forwards; the head of her hammer was in the wrong place to make much of an impact, but then again it wasn't the only dangerous part of her weapon. Swinging the head downwards behind and to the side of her, it acted as a counterweight to the base of the haft; she caught a glimpse of understanding and fear in Dimitri's look as he moved his free hand to try and catch the weapon and twist his head out the way, but too slow. The dull thud of impact travelled up her arms and she instinctively sprang backwards, spinning the hammer around to the ready position as Dimitri, ignoring the jarring hit on his cheek and throwing off the worst of the shock and disorientation of losing first blood, launched his own assault.

XXX

Had he thought listening was a torment?

Had he really?

As his feverish eyes relayed every second of the battle, his brain felt every impact, took every step and tasted every hot breath Amy was forced to take in this fight, a fight Sonic prayed to every god he knew that she would walk away from. The blue hedgehog didn't need to look at the others; he knew their reactions would be similar to his, similar, but not the same – not as vivid, not as gut-wrenchingly awful as his impotent fists twitched and clenched without meaning. He would have given the earth and sky to be there with her, fighting by her side even unarmed; anything than be here, unable to look away from watching her participate in this slow waltz with death.

XXX

_Parry, parry, push back and swing – this is all wrong_; Amy gritted her teeth in frustration as Dimitri wrestled the upper hand away from her, his quicker, lighter weapon giving him a crucial advantage in two respects. Firstly it meant he could strike faster and, due to the keen edge of the sword, more lightly and still do a comparable amount of damage compared to her hammer, and secondly, more importantly in the long run, it preserved is endurance. She was already panting and he looked like he hadn't even broken a sweat yet; she needed something to tilt the balance back her way, before the battle truly began. Deep down, she recognised that the grandmaster was holding back on her, not giving in to the full battle rage just as she was fighting to keep it contained for now. The faster than light responses of thrust and parry had to be conserved for when they went at it hell for leather, no quarter asked for or given as blows would be traded almost faster than the eye could follow. They were a way away from that point yet but, as Dimitri suddenly retreated several paces, dodging her last swing, she realised with a wicked grin that they were heading that way fast.

"That all you got?" She took the opportunity to catch her breath, not lowering her guard for a second as she smiled indulgently at her foe, who returned her unpleasant leer with one of his own.

"I've barely begun, though I have to admit", he added idly, toying with his sword edge by running it along his gauntlet, "you've more skill than I gave you credit for. However", his face suddenly darkened, serious as a cloud passed over the face of the sun, "this is a fight you cannot win Amy; can't you see that? If it were anyone else assaulting me in this manner they would be bleeding on the floor by now, but not you. I offer one last time", he moved to the side, lowering his sword tip as he extended an arm towards the door, "you may leave this place free and unharmed; all your friends will join you in a week at most, none of them touched in any way. Please Amy, take the chance; don't throw your extraordinary life away in pointless combat".

XXX

The hedgehog could almost tangibly feel the eyes of her friends on her back; she was profoundly grateful that she wasn't facing them as the looks on their faces may have been enough to topple her resolve like nothing Dimitri could have done ever would.

"Sorry, but all of them would do the same for me", she guessed the slump of Dimitri's shoulders was echoed in every glass chamber in the accursed prison, "this is something I can't walk away from. Let's go". She made to advance, mind trying to second-guess his most likely strategy, when with the speed of a mongoose he acted; bringing the palm of his free hand towards her, Dimitri sent a blast of pure Chaos towards his opponent. Without thinking about it, without being totally aware she was doing it, she called on her own sources of power to protect her.

He lowered his arm, having looked away fractionally to avoid loosing his sight from the glare of impact from his emerald blast. He blinked and looked up, fully expecting to see Amy unconscious in front of him, ready to be returned to Station Square, under armed guard if it was necessary to ensure her remaining there. What he did not expect was to see the pink hedgehog charging towards him, untouched by the attack she should have been laid out by; the shock of this fact, and the instinctive indecision between fight or flight shaved a second off his reaction time and, before he could spring away completely, there was a stinging impact on his sword arm that should have slewed him around, ready for a blow that would have smashed into his unprotected back. He used the force of the hit to throw himself sideways, rolling quickly to his feet as he subconsciously inspected the damage; his armour had stopped a lot of the damage making it through to his arm but it now ached abominably. He had to clamp down on his desire to press his free hand to the injury as it would interrupt the flow of his sword strokes. He ground his teeth together as Amy, facing him once more, laughed a grating laugh and pointed to the emerald she had in her hand,

"Lest you forget Dimitri", she grinned wolfishly and he felt his temperature rise further, "I can do pixie-tricks too!"

XXX

_Praise the Master_; Spectre let out the breath he'd been holding as it became apparent that Amy could use the Chaos Emeralds for defence as well as for transport. He sincerely hoped she could use it to attack as well but, he reminded himself, there was no point in her being rash; if anything, she'd surpassed most of the guardians who had faced Dimitri in the past by lasting this long against him. A low growl passed through the walls of his prison as the grandmaster answered his assailant, voice guttural with rising rage,

"So I see"; with that and a flare of light, he was gone, vanished – before Spectre's wide, appalled eyes, Amy was still for a spilt-second then did likewise, using their respective emeralds to relocate themselves in a game of cat and mouse, each seeking a split-second of extra time, so crucial in this frenetic battle, to land the fatal hit. To his eyes, it was like being in the middle of Athair's exuberant welcome once more as colours burst in front of his vision and the two figures appeared and then faded from view once more, occasionally clashing arms for seconds at a time before one or the other, most often Dimitri, would vanish into thin air once more. _Stay safe Amy Rose_; for the first time since his childhood, the ebony echidna closed his eyes and intoned a solemn promise that, whatever the outcome, Amy would be remembered in the annals of guardian history as an example to all; standing up to those who would threaten liberty for no other reason than to save the lives and powers of others.

XXX

Sweat, warm and itchy, clung to her compressed quills as her quarry disappeared once more from view, leaving her to go after him once more. Amy snarled; this game of catch-up was doing her no good in the long run – if anything it was probably weakening her. She had to remind herself, in the lee she had during one of her tiny jumps to both catch up with the echidna and make sure he couldn't get the drop on her, that his power supply was much greater than her own, and he could somehow recharge faster than she could. _He doesn't even need to touch the Bloodstone_; for a second she was envious, then reflexes took over as she re-emerged into the chamber, eyes wildly seeking her target and just catching him tense his blade for a swing even as the Bloodstone glowed in the background, funnelling more power to Dimitri; it was this light that let Amy see though the trick.

XXX

"It's a trick Amy!" Sonic felt his throat begin to ache as he bawled the warning again; if the logical centre of his brain told him no matter how loud he screamed she wouldn't hear him he chose to ignore it – he had to do something to help her. He recognised what Dimitri was doing almost immediately; it was something Eggman had tried so often in the past hat seeing it as a pattern was almost second nature to him. _He's wearing her down_; the blue hedgehog thought frantically to himself, still weak-kneed and nauseous with worry about Amy having to be quick or be dead as she still held her own in this battle, though he though he could still see a few signs of fatigue from her as the deadly dance went on; _he wants her to use all her Chaos energy, then he'll spring, I've gotta warn her_. He drew in the breath to shout again, realising that she was closer to his prison this time, when she suddenly ceased movement, standing perfectly still with her eyes closed. For a brief, terrible second, Sonic though that was the end, that the exertion of using so much Chaos energy had drained her too much and his mouth went dry, but then she moved, snapping her eyes open as a fearsome war shout echoed throughout the room.

XXX

Stillness of body, stillness of mind; Thunderhawk's words echoed through her as she tried to calm herself down, let all the anger, rage and frustration melt away to nothing as the now-familiar flare of red light silhouetted Dimitri's latest getaway. She couldn't carry on like this, she was using more energy than she could extract from her emeralds; she needed to do something else, something he wouldn't expect. Amy rested for a second, closing her eyes as she tried to sensitise herself, make herself more aware of other wielders of Chaos energy in the vicinity. _The guardians can sense each other by their powers_; the reminders from Haven offered her hope if only she could capitalise on the example Knuckles' ancestors had unwittingly provided for her. She was still, as still as stone, forgetting the clamour of battle as the emeralds pulsed in her hand, feeling for any disturbance that Dimitri would make. It was timeless, the wait stretching far beyond anything it should have been, when a tiny ripple preceded the resurfacing of her enemy.

Without hesitation, she was moving, sprinting towards the location where he would, she just _knew_ he would reappear, hammer held high to bear down upon him in the brief second when he'd be regaining his bearings. She could feel the slight ruffled of air displaced from her running rippling her fur, saw the grandmaster finish his Chaos Control almost as if it were a slowed-down film. She was almost upon him as he finally completed his technique; the slowly dawning look of shock was priceless as se let out her most fearsome battle scream, hoping to shock him a little more as the Piko Piko hammer descended. His reflexes were honed and he brought his blade up, but there was no way he could be fast enough, not after she'd surprised him so well. The heavy head battered his already injured arm, knocking away the sword arm and opening him up completely; she saw the fear in his eyes as he tried to grasp the hammer haft, buy himself some time to recover, but with a savage snarl she reversed her stroke, slapping his hand away with the butt of her weapon. Howling in triumph, in elation, in feral delight at her long-awaited revenge and redemption, Amy swung the hammer over her head and brought it around like a wrecking ball. _Not even the Bloodstone can bail you out of this one_; she saw the glow around his body as he threatened to cheat her by teleportation, but before his technique could trigger fully, the hammer connected solidly with the side of his skull.

XXX

Sonic sagged down to his knees, relief flooding through him as he saw Dimitri flung away by the sheer power of the hit Amy had landed on his unprotected head, his tardy Chaos Control activating as he was still in mid-air, cheating Amy of a second strike but it didn't matter, she had landed a stunning attack that Dimitri would be lucky to recover from. _You can do this Ames_; Sonic glanced around to see Shadow, who was next to him in this procession of inverted test tubes, leap with elation and, just beyond him, the blurry outline of Rouge yelling herself hoarse with encouragement for the battling hedgehog. Hope, a concept so distant mere moments ago, lit up a spark in his chest and there it glowed brightly, mimicking the flare of power as Dimitri, still in motion as he hadn't been able to check his flight before the Chaos Control had triggered, smashed heavily into the floor metres from him. The echidna lurched drunkenly to his knees as Sonic, not caring that the glass was soundproofed, bellowed at the top of his lungs,

"Finish him Amy; this is it!" To his relief and joy, she must have heard him as she sprinted towards the lame form of the previously invincible grandmaster of the Dark Legion, now reduced to a mere mortal by her cunning move. He could see her running, feel the fire in her eyes and hunger on her face as she raised her hammer – he doubted she was more than a few metres from her nemesis when Dimitri span on his knees and thrust a hand forwards, simultaneously stopping Amy's attack and blasting the hope, so recently restored to Sonic's emotions, back into the void of nothingness.

XXX

Filled with the thrill of the hunt and savouring her victory, Amy raced forwards heedlessly, the tiny part of her mind that was still able to think clearly screaming that this would probably be her best chance to finish Dimitri off. That stroke would have felled an ox, another would put him down for good. Just as she began to swing her hammer up, she saw him begin to move; she looked not at his body, but at his face, and the sheer loathing that was there now, a world away from the compassion he had shown her earlier, caused her to falter minutely and lose some of the impetuous of her charge.

She saw his hand shoot out but before she could focus on defence something akin to a giant's fist smashed into her chest, knocking the wind out of her completely and catapulting her backwards like a sling stone. She skidded away across the floor and away from him, just about keeping a grip on her weapon as pain made stars dance in front of her eyes; she heard a skittering noise from nearby as she finally came to a halt, lungs heaving terribly as her brain tried to sort out the damage. She was winded, no doubt about that, and her back was sore from where she'd been dragged across the smooth steel floor, but as she scrambled to her feet, afraid in case Dimitri followed up his attack and she was left prone on the floor, she saw something ahead of her that made her pain feel as insignificant as a candle in a blast furnace.

Laying some ten feet ahead and to the right of her, winking merrily, was the yellow Chaos Emerald, knocked from her hand by the grandmaster's telekinetic attack. _And I can't get it back_; a cold, clammy sweat formed on Amy's brow as she suddenly felt horribly vulnerable, hefting her hammer once more as the crimson glow of the Bloodstone lit up once more, far brighter now that she had ever seen it at the same time its master, slow deliberation in his every move, pushed himself to his feet. Just from the look on his face, Amy knew with horrible certainty that the warm-up was over.

XXX

Cream was closest to where Dimitri had fallen, and as the echidna raised himself back to a vertical base she cowered as far from him as her prison would let her go; malice and rage were etched in every line of his face as he retrieved his sword and, after screwing up his face for a second, spat out a mouthful of watered-down blood. The nasty mixture landed at the feet of Cream's container and the rabbit noticed something gleaming dully in the red gore that surrounded it; _a tooth_; she thought with horrified fascination as the enamel showed up clearly in the light; _Amy knocked his teeth out._ Rather than amusement, however, Cream felt nothing but black terror as the renewed fire of the Bloodstone was reflected from the walls of her prison, making her feel like she was in a pillar of fire as words, guttural and ugly, were snarled through the redness,

"My patience, is, ended!" With a flare of power from under the soles of his boots, Dimitri was gone from in front of her and moving towards Amy, sword flashing n a deadly arc as he used the power of his Bloodstone to up the tempo of this dance macabre.

XXX

From the first block that nearly sheared straight through her defence like a chainsaw through cheese, Amy knew for certain this was it; the grandmaster had spoken the truth earlier – this was a fight she couldn't win. He was too fast, too strong and she couldn't draw power from the one emerald she had left as fast as she had to use it to keep his ravenous attacks at bay, trying to predict where he'd reappear next in order to form a defence against it. Her own speed and skill meant next to nothing in the face of this onslaught; his blade was everywhere and so was he, appearing just fast enough to strike and gone again before she could even think about counterattacking. Sweat streamed down her face threatening to blind her as it searched for her eyes; she flicked her head to the side, arms aching with fatigue as the fight, no, the last defence to spite him, wore on into minutes. _I know I can't win Dimitri, but you'll have to kill me to stop me fighting._

XXX

_Her heart is fearless and her spirit is pure_; Spectre's tear rolled down his cheek unimpeded as the ancient echidna saw the end approaching; _but she can't hope to win against him now, not when the Bloodstone empowers him so_. It had been a truly brave effort, something that all present would carry with them to the end of their days, but surely she could not last much longer. Even as he watched, Dimitri pinked the side of her arm with the point of his blade, the redness of her blood staining her fur a much darker red as the wound added to the strain of trying to fend the rampaging technocrat off. With a flare of power, he was gone once more and Amy was left breathless, spinning around in time to try and parry the next attack, falling back a pace under the relentless assault. He knew logically that it was all but over, though emotionally, even for one normally as reserved and observant as Spectre was, when Amy made the fatal misstep in her routine, the echidna felt himself do something he hadn't done since childhood – he sank to his knees and burst into tears as the last hope of Angel Island fell before his eyes.

XXX

It had been unexpected, and the unexpectation cost her dearly; her exhausted emerald strength barely registered as the grandmaster approached from behind her and she span on her toes, arms about to fall limp with fatigue forced to bring her now chipped and battered hammer up to face the threat. The blade had swung from nothingness, catching her fully, the impact sending her stumbling backwards as her numb fingers struggled to hold the hammer. She was already seeking where Dimitri had gone to next, but this time, Dimitri hadn't gone anywhere. The echidna must have realised she was flagging and stayed to press his advantage; another impact rattled her and she lashed out reflexively a tiny spark of adrenaline giving her to energy to strike once more; _wait, he's gone_! Wildly looking around with powers from her emerald, she knew he was behind her; she span, hammer held high, only to feel a cold rush of artic wind rush over her stomach, followed by warmth that seeped over her skin and into her dress. She felt no pain but shock, looking directly as Dimitri as his sword finished its wide arc, the blade having done its deadly work.

Amy's back was to her; it wasn't until she saw the blood staining the sword's edge that Cream realised what must have happened. Her first instinct was to freeze up completely; if she didn't move, none of this would be real, it would all turn out to be a horrible, horrible nightmare. For a second, nothing changed; the echidna still held his sword out to one side and Amy's hammer didn't waver; Cream dared to hope…then screamed, a long, loud scream that only she could hear as her beloved sister's hand opened and the beautiful red emerald she had been holding dropped to the floor.

As the Piko Piko hammer fell, dropped from a nerveless unfeeling hand, Knuckles felt a hatred so hot it made any emotion he had ever felt towards Eggman seem a pale shadow. He threw himself at the glass in front of him, battering at it with his spurs, trying to break through and help her as tears fractured his vision.

Sonic's mind went blank and his heart shattered forever; he fell forwards against the glass he had been throwing himself against since Dimitri had upped the ante, the pain of his bloodied knuckles nothing as everything bar the scene in front of him melted into blackness. As Amy began her slow, graceful fall backwards, Sonic knew forever, with sickening certainty, that Dimitri had been and would always be wrong; there was a fate worse than death, and now that fate was his – to watch the one he loved die in front of him, with the full knowledge that there was nothing he could do to prevent it.

XXX

The ground under her back felt strangely cooling, a detached coldness, welcome from the whip of acid that covered her front as she curled up a little instinctively. Amy's hands clutched at her wound, trying to feel how bad it was and more importantly hold it shut. Her shocked brain was finally able to discern from the ocean of pain feedback that the cut was deep, though not fatal; a savage weal that stretched from the bottom of her ribcage on the left side to the tip of her pelvis on the right; had Dimitri willed it, a perfect disembowelling slash. The emerald was gone and so too was any hope of healing herself and continuing the fight; she knew she was beaten. Every cell of her being ached from the strain of the conflict and her mind pounded with duel pain and nausea from using so much Chaos energy in so little time. A shadow fell over her, blocking out the light and she squinted up, making out an outline that slowly shifted back into focus, even though she knew who it must be. Sword still stained with her own precious blood, Dimitri stood over her, earlier rage and power both expended, face drawn with concern and resolve as he looked down at her basically helpless form.

"You fought well Amy", as though those words could console the dreadful knowledge that she had failed – no matter how bold the attempt, she had still not managed to overcome her nemesis, "but you should have listened".

The echidna's voice deepened and became more regretful, as though once more despairing of the nature of youth not to listen to the wisdom of age,

"I told you the Bloodstone could not be resisted, none can stand against its power; not even the little ones can compete with its strength. Forged from my own imparted gifts and flesh, it cannot be opposed by any mortal, even one as courageous as you". Amy lolled her head to the side, barely listening to his words as her eyes found the stone in question, still spinning quiescently on its axis; she almost felt it mocking her as she gazed at it hatefully; _you brought me to this – the only reason he beat me was because he had you and I didn't – if you didn't exist, he'd never have called to me and…and…_

He saw the change in her face and recognised it immediately; the transition of defiance to acceptance of what was to happen. Dimitri took another step forwards, one of his eyes almost unconsciously seeing Sonic pressed against the glass of his prison, wanting nothing more than to look away, but unable to tear his eyes from Amy's form. _He'll never know how sorry I am that it had to come to this_; with a heavy sigh, he lowered his weapon a fraction and spoke matter-of-factly,

"Is there anything you would like to say?" He gestured towards the row of horrified watchers, not daring to look any of them in the eye in case he lost his nerve due to their mute hatred; Amy was still for a second, then her lips moved, he voice plain and strained,

"Just", she winced and stopped a second, getting used to the pain from talking, trying to make herself block it out and expect more in the near future, "just two things; a question and a request". Dimitri nodded and lowered his sword still further, determined to go through with the dread act when she was finished,

"You did that, didn't you?" He was confused until he saw her finger twitch, following its course until he realised she was pointing at the red Chaos emerald, still on the floor just out of reach of her hand, "I could never use them before, you changed me didn't you?" The echidna nodded,

"Yes; I needed the power of the red little one to ensure you could get to the Bloodstone again and the only way to do that was to make you more receptive to its power". She nodded, smiling slightly even now, at the end of all things,

"Thought so", a laugh, faint and pain-filled, bubbled up from her lungs before being cut off with a gasp of pain, the sudden juddering of her torso aggravating her wound, "so, could you do me a favour Dimitri?"

"Our bargain remains Amy", he reminded her sternly, flicking his eyes towards the capsules, not lingering long enough to make out details of any faces; looking down again, he saw her smile widen a little more,

"Good, well then", her left hand flexed a little, reaching for the handle of her battered weapon as she asked, "pass me my hammer; I've had it so long now I…" he cut her off by moving, reaching over and lifting it easily one-handed, surprisingly light, he considered, for such a large hammer. He stood at her feet, not deigning to use his gifts as he lent down and offered it to her gently,

"Take it Amy". She smiled once more, inwardly bracing herself for the pain she was about to put herself through,

"Thanks", her face hardened instantly, the fire in her eyes rekindled as she sprang her trap, "moron!"

XXX

One of the oldest tricks in the book, but still one of the most effective; keep your enemy talking. When he thinks he's won, he'll try and, depending on his character, offer a last request, boast abut how he did it or even how his victory was always assured right from the start. All the time, while he's speaking, you can listen, get information, plot a way to escape from him, anything that could save you neck. The most efficient victors will kill you without a word, and Amy had been counting on Dimitri's respect for her delaying the death stroke while she concocted a last ditch plan.

Just about holding in a scream of pain, she thrust out with both feet, ignoring the agony that sheeted up from her wound as the sudden movement tore the edges of the gash apart once more. She connected solidly with the echidna's kneecaps and, off balance and unsteady due to the weight of the hammer, Dimitri began to fall, too shocked to think of using his Chaos powers to check his collapse. She rolled out the way as he crashed to earth where she had been lying, pain threatening to drag her under as it tinged the edges of her vision with grey. She snatched up her weapon and ran blindly towards the one thing that could still help her, the one thing she had sworn she never wanted again, her damnation now her salvation as she screamed over her shoulder,

"You say no mortal can hope to stand up to the Bloodstone Dimitri; well…", breath came in tortured gasps, blood following freely from her wound but it didn't matter now; she heard a last cry of panic and shock from the grandmaster as he saw where she was heading and tried to stop her, but too late; she was there and nothing would stop her.

Arms wide as though embracing a long lost friend, Amy Rose threw herself straight at the greatest Chaos Emerald of all; there was a tide of power that she had never dared or dreamed would ever be hers to control, then all the pain and worry melted away for good.

XXX

_I've been here before_; numb as he was from the emotion trauma he'd just been put through, Sonic nevertheless realised there was a similarity between the nightmarish cauldron that had announced Dimitri's rebirth into the world, and this new nebula he now found himself within. But it was more different than similar; where the first had been a raging storm of clashing colours and tones, this was more gentle, a lightly stirred sauce of different shades all blending together in a graceful dance of peace and, rose shades. _Amy, what are you doing now?_ Sonic still couldn't help but feel sick with worry about what was going on, but, almost as if in response to his question, a voice, so faint he could hardly hear it, slipped into his cell with him.

"Trust me, it'll all be okay". It was a voice Sonic could recognise without difficulty; he felt as though someone had poured liquid warmth down his throat as Amy's words echoed in his head and the sea of pinkness around him began to drain away.

It was as the tide retracted back to the point of its origin that Spectre, tears dried up and heart lightened, snapped his fingers and gave a roar of triumph; _genius Amy, sheer, unadulterated genius_. Dimitri had sown the seeds of his own destruction in the person he'd most likely thought he'd never see again; Amy's question came back to the black echidna and he finally saw it for what it was; not some fatal curiosity, but part of a much greater, more complex idea that had turned out dividends. _He gave her the power to use Chaos energy_; Spectre felt faint with relief as he traced over the route Amy must have taken in her mind; _as it was him who did so, he must have unwittingly given her the power to use the Bloodstone as well – despite it's nature, it is still at heart a Chaos Emerald, just more powerful. And now_; the guardian grinned wolfishly as Dimitri's figure, standing upright in confusion, sword held loosely by his side, was revealed, silhouetted against the glow of light rose that surrounded the Bloodstone's location in a hemisphere;_ things are even again_. It was as he thought so that the first blow in the new war fell, and it landed squarely on the grandmaster of the Dark Legion himself.

XXX

Something shot out of the contracting nebula, hurtling forwards like a comet, tail blazing with sparks and stars as it careened towards the immobile form of Dimitri. He saw it coming threw up his arms in a guard, a red glow around his forearms as he sought to prevent the missile connecting with him. It was slowed down as it approached, loosing speed as if it was travelling through water, but then it touched the red shield itself and, to his ineffable horror, sundered it apart as though it were not there. As the fragments of his defence were reduced to red wisps upon the air, the comet slammed into him bodily, lifting him off his feet with the impact alone, the heat it generated scorching his armour and causing his cloak to smoulder. Every particle of air was crushed out of his lungs as he was dumped unceremoniously on the ground, hunched over his aching gut as he watched the blazing missile through watering eyes, seeing it retreat to the pink halo that had spawned it. It was only when a hand, still encased in a now spotless white glove, latched onto the tail of the comet that it was stilled; sixteen collective gasps filled he air as they saw what it was.

The Piko Piko hammer, but not as any of them had ever seen it before; all the chips and splinters cause by Dimitri's blade had been smoothed out completely and the head polished like the day it had been made. From the haft, small objects fell and exploded like miniature supernovas; the hearts that Amy was proud to have adorning her weapon now glowed with a life of their own. The hammer was lowered as, with a final flare, the pink hemi-circle finally collapsed in upon the one who had caused it. The hammer was levelled at Dimitri once more as its owner called out in a voice like a clarion,

"…can you stand against it?"

Pulsing with redness like the heart of a star, a belt of hearts circling around her waist and all her previous wounds healed, Amy Rose gazed at the grandmaster as smiled challengingly, her new powers ready to rival his own. For his part, the echidna stared, not at her hammer, not at the circling stars that now surrounded her, but at her, her eyes; for the first time since he had come back to the flesh, Dimitri found himself in the presence of something that none of the Brotherhood could have provided, the one he had thought lost with Edmund's passing.

His equal.

XXX

Hope and confusion reined in equal measure; _Amy's gone hyper, but how did she know she could?_ Sonic didn't consider this question for more than a second because it didn't matter – a second ago she had been at death's door, now she was here, healed and ready to pick up where she had left off earlier. The blue hedgehog felt exhausted, wondering how Amy could have stood to watch him battle with Metal Sonic and Eggman the way she had without suffering peptic ulcers and panic attacks; heck, he was a wreck right now. She had this one in the bag now; nothing could stand against him in his hyper form except…; _another hyper form_; as he became lost in another sea, this one dark as a deep red wine, doubt and worry clawed at him again as he knew, he just knew, what that meant.

XXX

It was done quickly; the grandmaster faced her again, fire from the barely contained power he was holding crackling over his body as he leeched as much power as he could muster from the Bloodstone; he needed nothing less to stand a chance now. _How could I have let this happen?_; he snarled as he realised he had gone from assured victory to at best a fifty-fifty chance; now, as it had been in the battle with Edmund, luck may prove the decisive factor. Holding his sword ready, he answer the hedgehog's challenge, his earlier resolve lost once more to give way for cold anger,

"Let us see". For a long second they stood there, each sizing the other up, before they both called on the powers bestowed on them both through the Bloodstone and charged.

In front of fifteen watching, worried pairs of eyes, invincibility and invulnerability smashed into each other in a winner-take-all battle, Angel Island as the prize.

XXX

It was impossible to watch, even for Sonic and Shadow, long experienced at seeing high speed battles and chases; the attacks were too fast and exchanged too frequently for it to be viewed properly. Amy's hammer left blurring trails of white energy that took seconds to fade, while Dimitri's sword opened red lightning trails wherever it went, each weapon dancing as its control sought an opening.

Unavoidable attacks sought impossible targets, unstoppable attacks met impenetrable defences; each fighter was appearing and disappearing almost instantaneously, neither one concerned about the power this was expending as their power base was virtually limitless. Occasionally there was a streak of lightning or brilliant sheen of defensive pyrotechnics as pure chaos missiles were exchanged like balls at a tennis rally; equally occasionally one of the fighters would be hurled backwards as an attack landed, though the damage dealt was negligible; it would be virtually impossible for either to damage the hyper form of the other. It was a dynamic stalemate, as Tails would have said; though they were both moving and striking at each other, nothing much was actually changing save the structural integrity of the room they were duelling in. Possibly Dimitri still had the advantage in that, eventually, Amy's hyper form would expend itself and she'd be back to square one unless she could touch the red rock once more. So the deadlock may never have been broken, except for one simple factor; since she had seen the way to become Dimitri's equal, Amy hadn't stopped thinking about what he'd said.

XXX

_He is the Bloodstone, it's a part of him – he said he made it from his own flesh and power_; the hedgehog had one eye on the fight, working tirelessly to earn a little more time to think and breathe while the other part of her mind did the actual thinking. His sword flashed once more, dodging her more cumbersome hammer; almost immediately, one of the hearts at her waist whipped up to interpose itself between her and the blade. It exploded with the force of the hit, the shockwave of the blast avoided with a swift Chaos Control; while Dimitri made to play catch up, the hedgehog thought of a plan; risky, but if it worked, there was the potential to end this fight now. Realising he was about to reappear, she span to face him, carefully dropping one hand from her hammer haft, opening a deliberate gap in her defences.

She saw the madness in his eyes as he swung for her, she made to block the swing with her hammer, giving the pretence of not wanting to get hit, but all the time she really wanted to just slow the sword down a little, just enough to let her unburdened hand whip out and touch the arm guiding the sword, senses alert for anything unusual that could result from the contact. She felt contact and, more importantly, she realised her theory had been correct; she was still wearing her triumphant smile when Dimitri's reversed stroke sent her flying upwards, not realising what she was plotting in her mind as she reflected the emerald blast he sent rocketing up at her back to him. _Well_; she licked her lips as an idea so downright naughty lodged immovably in her mind and demanded she act on it; _I'm a big girl now, so here we go._ If anything, her smile grew as she flipped over, pushed off the ceiling and sped down to the waiting grandmaster like a falling star.

XXX

She had to wait a few agonisingly long seconds for the opening to arise; she needed to stun the echidna before she administered the deadliest attack she had. She returned to the fray with speed and skill unrivalled by anything that had gone before, even Dimitri himself hard-pressed to keep pace with her blistering strikes. _I just need one decent hit_; she ducked under an attack meant to remove her head from her shoulders and stepped aside from the reverse blow that should have split her down the middle;_ just one_. She feinted a jab to the middle and quickly reversed her strike, aiming for the knee, only for the hammer to pass through mid-air as Dimitri evaded the swing. She ground her teeth together with frustration; she knew how to finish it, it was just doing it that was proving to be the hard bit. Furiously chasing after him, she activated her own power to catch up; it was then that the little bit of luck she needed came to light.

By sheer good fortune, she had landed right behind him and her boots sank into the carpet; _what carpet?_ Flicked her eyes downwards, she realised with a stab of humour and surprise that she wasn't on a carpet at all; she'd Chaos Controlled onto Dimitri's cape and was pinning it to the ground. He was flailing to reach her with his whickering sword blade so, wasting no more time, she brought her hammer down squarely on the top of his head at the same time she hopped back, off his cape, allowing him to turn around and, as she had expected and hoped swung at her dazedly, the blade passing over her ducked head. With a triumphant shout before even he could recover from the impact, she leapt upwards, dropping her hammer as she bounded right into him, seeking the target she needed; snaking her arms around his neck, she pressed her face close to his and turned her Lovely Kiss attack into a genuine kiss of death.

XXX

It seemed to be affecting all of them the same; all across the contained glasses, miraculously untouched by either fighter, heads were roving this way and that, silently questioning their neighbours for an answer, any answer, to the very obvious question of what had possessed Amy to try a move like that. Looking to his left, Shadow wasn't all that surprised to see Sonic plunged right into the depths of ambivalence; he looked like he wasn't sure if he wanted to burst out laughing or throw up. The black hedgehog offered a very confused smile and a slight shrug before Sonic suddenly looked back up and his face went white; pounding on the glass and looking Shadow directly in the eye, the blue blur thrust a finger towards the strange embrace, the fingers of his free hand dancing up and down as though playing a keyboard. Raising an eyebrow in confusion, he nevertheless looked and it struck him also; with a fierce rush of joy, he realised what Sonic had meant by the strange gesture – the fires around Dimitri's body were dying down, drawn away from him through the contact Amy had forged. _Part of his flesh_; the former ultimate life-form slammed a fist into his palm, grin threatening to split his face in half as he realised what she was doing and why; _he can drain energy out of the Bloodstone from a distance because it's part of him, but it's a two-way stream. She's drawing energy out of him, maybe she's the only who can because he messed around with her to get the power from the Chaos Emerald; you've got him Amy, you've got him!_

XXX

Dimitri's mind was lost amid a whirl of emotions, each one more powerful and primal than the last as the kiss lingered, Amy's tongue wrestling with his own as, like the two Mobians themselves, they fought for dominance. First he had been in pain from her hit, then angry with himself for letting step within his guard, then confusion had come as her lips touched his and from that had emerged something stronger, more powerful than anything he had felt since his release. His arm tightened around her back, supporting her weight as he kissed back fiercely, a slave to passion as Amy suddenly writhed in his grasp, eventually slithering free with a wet, sucking sound. _She kissed me_; the grandmaster stood rooted to the spot, barely noticing as Amy made it to the floor and flexed her hand. Both his confused, questing eyes rolled to the floor, strangely upset that she seemed about to swing at him; _now she's attacking me? That doesn't make sense_. Still, he threw off his surprise as the hammer started moving, though he was in no position to raise his sword to block. It was only when he called on his powers to teleport to safety that the icicle dagger of fear stabbed him right through the heart; finally he had seen through her tactic and, as he saw something pink and heavy move towards him at high velocity, he realised he was far, far too late.

XXX

Not even the memory of a millennia-old hatred, festering from the recent violation of their ancestral home, could stop every member of the Brotherhood wincing in sympathy as the last strike connected solidly; it caught the grandmaster right in the middle of the back and forced his stomach forwards; for a second he achieved a position most limbo dancers can only dream about before, with a shrill cry of agony, his back gave way and he crumpled to the floor, spine completely shattered by Amy's attack. Without pause, face a mask of burning vengeance, Amy swung her hammer up once more and took a pace forwards, ready to bring it down for the last time.

XXX

This was it; the end had come for him – this extraordinary hedgehog had accomplished what not even his brother had managed to do. Dimitri existed in pain, knew only pain and the grim certainty that his life was about to end, the Grim Reaper was to have his due. _I think I can hear him laughing even now_; raising his eyes, he thought he could just make out the blurry shape of a scythe hanging just above his head. For a long, long second, it was still; in the final few seconds of mortal time left for him, the grandmaster of the Dark Legion said a swift prayer that, though he may die, his grandchildren would carry on his noble work, then closed his eyes for the end.

XXX

Amy was alive with the exultation of victory; Dimitri was down and there was no way she was letting him get up again. She darted forwards and slowly, just enough to let him see what she was going to do, before smiling viciously to herself; _you abused me Dimitri, you forced me to violate my ties of friendship and for that, there's no reprieve – but he wanted only freedom, he said he'd have taken another path._ The second thought broke in on her unbidden and her grip trembled for a second; _he, he'll enslave everyone – he's doing what he thinks is tight – he's wrong, it's evil – but that he can't see that – I've got to do this, for the good of everyone – YOU'RE NOT A KILLER!_

She was in two minds, unable to think of what she should do next, left with only a second to choose; she whipped her eyes around for a final time, then gazed down at her defeated enemy. It was then that her divided mind added itself up again; with a yell that rang throughout the base, Amy brought her hammer down with the all the force she could muster. There was a resounding crunch upon impact, then a long, solemn silence after the deed was done.

A/N: So HHH, did you get it all right? So where can it go from here – can the others forgive Amy's decision? And what of the cataclysm she was supposed to unleash? Answers are coming…soon.


	29. Chapter 28 Culmination

Chapter 28 – Culmination.

A/N: Thanks for the reviewers as always:

HHH – Cheers for taking part in the challenge; I need things like that to see if I can surprise people with my chapters; if you'd have guess what was coming, I'd have known I wasn't being original enough (I did wonder why you didn't post a second review to let me know what you actually thought about the chapter until I remembered that only allows one review per chapter – d'oh!) I might ask for similar things in the future, but here's a bit of a tip – since I really want this series of Sonic fanfics to continue, I probably won't kill characters off.

Komodo – Delay the sick bucket for another chapter; no real mushiness yet; but I have to say you leapt to the wrong conclusion about Sonic not envying Dimitri (watch this space…)

TH – (Author wrenches apart Sonic and Shadow from a pointless fight over the last drop of Red Bull and looses several thousand perfectly innocent retina cells as Sonic suddenly goes neon pink). Ahh; right, that's it, I've had enough – TH, when I say now, I need you to use your evil author powers to conjure a waterfall of Red Bull; leave the rest to me and get ready to run. All right you lot; I tried to be nice, I tried to be friendly, but you had to go and push me too far – okay TH (author develops a sudden black, billowing aura as he summons his author powers) NOW!

_I'm not dead_.

Dimitri kept very, very still as that thought rolled over and over in his mind, taking a very long, very shallow breath as if to confirm this fact. As he felt the air race through his nostrils, aware for the first time that it actually had a very slight taste, he was able to logically conclude that, by some miracle, he was still among the living. Ignoring the ringing in his right ear and the residual, not altogether inconsiderable, pain in his broken back, he mustered the courage to peek open one of his eyes, only to snap it shut almost as soon as he was able to form a picture of what he was seeing.

The head of that massive, dangerous hammer was scant inches, no, less than that, from his right cheek; he would have wagered that had he tried to look to his right he'd brush his face against it. The stars it was shedding burst just above him; if he'd had a mind to he could have reached up and caught them. _She missed_; Dimitri wasn't sure whether to feel afraid or overjoyed; he had a few more moments of life left to him, but at the same time there was the awful certainty that Amy wouldn't miss again; his life was over, his mission uncompleted, she would…

"No".

Both his eyes snapped open at that and, straining his vision, he managed to see past the hammer embedded in the ground next to him; he saw the hedgehog holding the mighty weapon. Amy was standing still as a statue, arms and hands locked in place as she seemed to wrestle with a monumental decision; her pretty face was expressionless, the eyes closed as she breathed heavily as though she'd just run a marathon. Even as he watched intently, his life quite literally depending on her next words, her lips moved again,

"No" she said softly; there was a scraping sound as the head of the Piko Piko hammer was dragged backwards, away from the helpless echidna, grounded by her feet as she repeated herself again for the third time, "no". With an effort, she smiled slightly and then suddenly her head jerked down, the sudden flame in her eyes consuming whatever hope Dimitri may have felt as he realised his life was no longer at risk,

"Get out of here".

XXX

She had her back to them all but the words rang around the cells of each Mobian Dimitri had captured; she was letting him go! After everything she'd been forced into doing by him, after all the agony he must have heaped upon her, she still didn't want to finish him off; she wanted to let him remain living. Spectre saw his son on his left slam a clenched fist into his palm, face angry as he realised the folly of the hedgehog's decision, while Shadow on his right was disbelieving she was doing so. _What are you planning Amy?_; the black guardian let his uniquely sharp mind put himself in her place – he was honest enough with himself to know that he'd have made the fatal swing without hesitation; _what have you seen that we haven't?_ As if to help his deductions, more words filtered through the walls of his prison,

"Get out of here", obviously Dimitri couldn't believe his ears any more than his prisoners could believe theirs, "but what…?"

"You never hurt me any more than you had to in order to achieve your ends", there was a sight pause; the ebony echidna guessed she was letting the grandmaster think that over before she continued, "it's only right I should do the same".

"You", there was definite surprise there now, "you, don't want to…"

"No", Spectre saw the quills of Amy's still glowing hair chafe together as she shook her head, each one leaving behind a trail of gleaming silver light, making it look for a moment as though her head was covered in a luminescent spiders web, "no-one deserves imprisonment like you had; your intentions are good even if your methods are not. You don't deserve to die Dimitri".

The basic truth in that statement hit Spectre with the same results as a brick between the ears; he'd been so wrapped up in the fighting and arguing that he hadn't stopped to think about things from his great-uncle's point of view. _I guess_; he really had to force the cogs to turn in order to catch this completely new train of thought; _Dimitri, no, he spared all of us when he could have left us to die in Haven – is it only right we, or to be more precise Amy, should do the same for him?_ He was so wrapped up in this new thinking that he completely failed to hear anything else until a panicked shout filled the room,

"No, that is", Dimitri was in a fine fettle of fear and Spectre cursed that he had not registered the words before these, "it is my, my…"

"Life? No Dimitri, it's not; there's no fate worse than death I believe you said", the hedgehog's tone suddenly hardened and became icy as she hefted her hammer to chest level once more, "I offer you your life, something you should be grateful to have after this. Get out of here now, or I'll take even that". Nothing changed for a moment and Spectre thought for a ludicrous second that Dimitri was actually going to take her up on that offer when, with a final flare, the grandmaster was gone.

XXX

Amy slumped, leaning on her hammer to support her body, the strength that had overcome Dimitri now feeling far to inadequate to face the fate she had decided for herself. Taking a second to muster herself as much as was possible, the pink hedgehog pushed herself upright and called on the power she had thieved from quite literally under Dimitri's nose; turning around slowly, taking in the hungry looks on the faces of her friends, she wearily made sure the safeguard she needed was in place and then, extending one hand, set them all free.

XXX

Sipping the drink Kragok had passed to her, Kommissar heaved herself into a sitting position, glaring venomously at the screen in front of her. The neon green demand for a password had been mocking both her and her brother for the past three hours; the words that had been scratched onto the bottom of the mouse, their grandfather's favourite hiding place for a password, had been worn away due to age to the point of illegibility and Kommissar had yet to rediscover her knack at code-breaking; every avenue she'd tried had been blocked by a shut-down clause that had cause Kragok, powering the machine from the generator of his claw, to swear violently as electrical feedback washed back into the still-living flesh of his arm. She snarled once more before turning to her twin,

"Shut the Chaos-cursed thing down for now Kragok; we're going nowhere fast with it". With a grunt and hum of electrical power down, the screen suddenly blacked out as her brother disengaged the couplings hooking his mechanical arm to the stubborn computer. Flexing the digits that made up the claw, his biological eye flicked over to his sister,

"We'll try some others after we've eaten and drunk; grandmaster Dimitri won't be pleased with the lack of progress". The female echidna sighed as she set her drink down and spoke sardonically,

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" he grunted irritably, though she was sure he had a reasonable idea,

"Call him grandmaster Dimitri", she shook her head, hearing the mechanical components of her spines clink together as she did, "he's our great-grandfather; he doesn't expect us to call him by his title".

"Maybe", Kragok grudgingly conceded the point before standing up straight, his red slit of a right eye now locking onto her face, "but I, unlike you, have a sense of proper respect; Dimitri is the grandmaster and founder of this legion and, unless he specifically tells me otherwise, I will address him as such. You would do well to do likewise Kommissar".

"No", his sister shook her head with a cruel laugh, "because I, unlike you, have a sense of humour and don't need to be told it's okay to call him grandfather; I rather think he prefers it in fact. You need to loosen up", she said, repeating words she must have said a hundred times before, "it wouldn't kill you to bend the rules once in a while". To her surprise, he actually smiled,

"No, but it might _hurt_ me, if you catch my meaning"; as he spoke, he set his still-living hand in his dreadlocks and pulled backwards slightly; Kommissar growled and fought down her blush – there was no need to remind her of that. She made to give a retort when she felt something prickle along her back; looking over her shoulder, she reflexively closed her eyes as red light burst from just behind her; it was only when she heard the moan of pain that she opened them again. What she saw froze her blood; Dimitri, her great-grandfather and lord of the Dark Legion, was laying face down in the corridor, back twisted at an unnatural angle, pain in every facet of his body.

She was at his side quick as thought, not registering the flecks of hit liquid that splashed her legs as she threw her drink down for more speed.

"Grandfather, what happened?" _Back broken, probably some internal damage as well_; she blinked back tears as the full extent of the beating Dimitri must have received hit home on her. Raising his head, his pupils drifting only slowly now, the ancient echidna spoke in a dry, cracked voice,

"Lost, Amy, could use the Bloodstone, drained me", he slumped down, exhausted by the strain of talking as Kommissar listened hard to catch his last words; despite her attentiveness, she missed them still,

"Sorry grandfather, I didn't…"

"To Central Dogma", the voice raised, a feeble flicker of the grandmaster's previously unopposable powers helping strengthen him as he conveyed his last message, "take me there". She nodded and dropped to her knees beside him, looping one of his arms around her shoulders and hauling him upright; she winced as his weight pressed down on her fully, he couldn't support himself due to his broken back. _I need, help, I need_; looking around, she gasped through clenched teeth,

"Kragok, get over here; I can't do this alone". For a second he remained still, seemingly paralysed by shock by the sight of his battered great-grandfather, then with a shake of his head he threw it off and ran forwards; Kommissar felt some of her burden lift and pointed forwards,

"Central Dogma's this way, the base centre. We'll need some passwords…"

"I know them", Dimitri's head lolled her way; despite herself, she shuddered as she saw dried blood trickling from a corner of his mouth, flecks of it splitting off and striking the fur on her face as he continued, "we have to be fast, move". Without another word, the strange-looking trio began their long trek into the heart of both the city of Necronopolis and the teachings of the Dark Legion itself.

XXX

Cream had the distinct impression of a hand clenching itself very gently around her body; looking up, she saw Amy was pointing towards where they were all captive with a fist loosely formed; she expanded it at the same time the grip was gone from around the rabbit's form. For a second Cream was confused; what had the point of that exercise been? It was only when, with a sudden crack and tinkling of fallen shards, the glass all around her shattered outwards, that she understood. With a sudden flare of hope, the young Mobain saw her freedom and ran for it; glass crunched under her boots as, to her left and right, all her friends spilled out of the capsules Amy had shattered with her new-found telekinesis. Heart aflame with relief, with joy, with a massive mix of emotion she simply had to vent, the rabbit charged at the still form of her sister, arms spread wide as she shouted aloud,

"Rosie, you did it! You did it!"

_I'm sorry Cream_; the pink hedgehog heard the words like a knife twisting in her heart; for a second she was tempted to drop the barrier, but she knew that if she did, Dimitri would win and all that had happened here would count for naught. She kept her back to them, tears beginning to fill her eyes; one or two spilled over onto her face only to evaporate immediately due to the heat of her body. She heard a stampede of her friends, their shouts of jubilation, of praise for her, only they didn't yet know what she had finally decided, in that mad split-second with Dimitri at her feet and the fate of Angel Island in her hand, her course of action would be. She listened intently, waiting for the first one to come into contact with the…there was a yelp of pain and the sound of someone knocked backwards onto their butt, and the time had come for her.

XXX

Sonic rubbed his sore snout, for a second confused rather than hurt at all; he'd run straight over to Amy the second he'd been free with the full intention of scooping her up and running, just running free with her; where he went and what happened then would be in the lap of the gods, just as long as he was with her. But to his dismay, he couldn't get to her; he'd run smack into what felt like an invisible wall. _What's going on_?; he pushed himself to his feet as the others arrived – not even sparing them a glance, he brought his hands forwards and pressed on the surface in front of him. It was solid and unyielding, but there was nothing there…unless, but why would Amy want to…

"Rosie", he glanced down to see Cream by his side, pushing the barrier as hard as she could, tears starting to mix with perspiration she was baulked so close to her goal, "what's going on?"

XXX

She couldn't hold back an explanation; they all had a right to know and, she cursed herself as she tried to think of the best way to explain what was going to happen next, more than one of them was going to disagree. With a last steadying breath, keeping the barrier in place with great difficulty due to her inward misery, the still-hyper hedgehog turned to face the jury with her next plea.

"Sojourner, take the power".

XXX

All eyes swung to the fifth-father, but he looked as bamboozled as the rest of them; raising his arms in a gesture of innocence, he looked at the hedgehog directly,

"Amy, I, er, I don't…"

"I need you to get them all safe", now he could see her, the way she was leaning on her hammer the way an old man might lean on a stick for support; he caught a glimpse of her face and, judging by the wisps of steam rising from her eyes, he guess in shock that, had she been normal, she would have been in tears, "for that you need more strength. I can give you that; don't worry, it's safe". He was thunderstruck; she was offering him more power than he'd ever dreamed possible and was on the verge of replying when another voice cut in sharply,

"What do you mean, get us all safe?" Cream was nearly shouting by now; she didn't like what Amy was inflecting one little bit and this fear of the unknown frightened her, "where are we going, and you're coming too, right?" The rabbit was stunned mute, reduced to merely shaking her head and trembling as her sister answered slowly in a voice brimming with sadness,

"Not this time Cream; I'm sorry".

"What do you mean no?" Sonic threw himself at the barrier, desperate to figure out what she meant by that as images of insufferable loss sped through his mind and fuelled his despair, "you, you can't…what are you going to do?" She turned to face him, strength and honesty warring with fear and concern as she struggled to give a coherent answer,

"I, I have to, to do what needs to be done; if I don't Dimitri will win, no matter that he's been beaten, if that thing persists he'll win in the end". He followed her finger and fear rushed up his spine and he redoubled his efforts to get to her, talk her out of this madness,

"Amy, no, there's some other way; the guardians can do it; you're not thinking straight".

"Yes I am", the voice was calm and cold, purged of all emotion save one he was so familiar with; the undying, desperate need to do the right thing no matter the cost or the odds, "that thing's got to be destroyed and I'm the only one here who can do it; I don't know what'll happen if I try, so none of you will be here when I do".

"I will", the blue hedgehog snarled; with a rush of displaced air he was gone and then back, this time with something yellow glinting in his hand. Amy fought a pulse of panic as she recognised the Chaos Emerald and knew what he would try with it; she knew also that, if he managed to break down her protective layer and touch her, maybe even kiss her, she would crumble and her final duty would go unfulfilled. _I can't let that happen_; she saw the glare around the yellow gem and fought down her tears, trying to remember that this was bigger than her feelings now. If she failed, an entire race was under threat and that had to outweigh the love of a single person. Tightening her grip on her hammer haft until her knuckles whitened, she forced herself to wait, stay her hand until she was sure there was no choice. She prayed her barrier would hold even when she knew Sonic would eventually break it down and that, if the time came, she would have strength enough to crush her own dreams for the sake of others.

XXX

Shadow saw the flare of light from around the blue hedgehog's fist; Sonic was putting his heart and soul into this; he'd lived with the hero long enough to know that this was something Sonic was going to do and nothing would stop him. The emerald power glowed across the surface of the invisible wall Amy had constructed around herself; part of it buckled and then fell in, Sonic roaring as he did so,

"I'm not letting you do this Amy; you've done enough, more than enough", he reached forwards, his glove almost close enough to touch the glowing fur on the back of her arm, "let someone else break that thing, there's no need to…unngh!"

Shadow never actually saw what had happened in that split-second; the after-image of a comet trail blazed into his retinas and temporary blinded him; while he recovered his sight, all he could do was listen to the pink hedgehog's tirade; despite his usually quiet and aloof take on life, even the black hedgehog was shocked, deeply shocked, by how much grief and anger was contained within the shout that echoed of the walls of base alpha.

"No, this is my responsibility", there was a deep sob that choked the words for a second before Amy continued with renewed ferocity, "I set him free, it was my fault all this happened; I have to set it all right and this is the only way to do it. I'm not putting anyone else at risk – it's my fault all this happened. You can't understand Sonic, none of you can – every time you fought to save the world it wasn't your fault the danger was there in the first place; it is now and I'm going to stop it". Shadow managed to blink his sight clear and, after shaking his head, took in the scene with a gasp of shock.

Amy, still glowing with the power she had stolen with a kiss, was crying so hard it looked like she had two miniature clouds over her eyebrows, formed by her evaporating tears. She was looking down at where Sonic was sprawled unconscious across the floor, a purple bruise just beginning to swell up on the point of his chin; _where Amy's hammer must have connected_; the black hedgehog realised as he joined the dots between the flash of light and the shouting. Amy seemed to have directed most of her venom at Sonic's comatose form, but now she looked up at them all, the determination in her eyes plain even through the mist around her face.

"I can't stop now; this is something I have to do. Please, just make sure you're all safe". She was met with silence for a few seconds, before the tiniest, most brave voice Shadow had ever heard piped up into the deafening silence.

"Okay Amy", Rouge rubbed her hands across her eyes; she couldn't stop her eyes watering but she still stood up taller, trying to be strong, "if, if you're sure about this…" She tailed off, unable to speak any more, leaning on Knuckles as the echidna nodded, unable to speak from sorrow as he saw the sheer unfairness of a fate Amy didn't deserve to have as her own.

"Stay safe Rosie", Cream managed to whisper, trying to move forwards to hold her sister one last time, but to her heartbreak the wall stood firm; she looked up, hurt beyond words at this denial,

"No Cream, it, it's too much", _they can't stay any longer_; it was agony to hear them talk, pain beyond endurance to see them before her, suffering yet more because of her carelessness, the only comfort coming in the knowledge that it would all be over soon, "please, you all need to go; I need to do this now; Sojourner, it's yours".

Without another word, Amy brought her hand forwards and what looked like a massive tongue of light rose fire shot from the end of it; Locke dived out the way as it reached its intended target, splashing into Sojourner's front like a wave breaking. The echidna seemed to visibly swell with power and, suddenly realising with a hideous surge of guilt and fear that this may be the last time he'd ever be able to see this bubbly, beautiful hedgehog in his life, Shadow lurched forwards and gabbled the first thing that came into his head,

"You're going to be all right Amy; I know you will".

"You will be remembered for all time Amy Rose", his voice clashed with Spectre's, the echidna's eyes even redder than normal as the flame retracted and Sojourner, fists clenched and mouth open in a silent rictus of equal parts ecstasy, fear and resolve, triggered his gift with the power of the Bloodstone; the last thing Shadow was able to see was Amy, no longer hyper, bow her head as tears flooded onto her dress front. Shadow would have given anything to reach out, touch her cheek one last time and reassure her she was forgiven, but the scene blurred before he could; the light warped around him, the blackness pressed in and he was moving through time and space, away from her…

XXX

_Strange, I thought I'd be sadder when they'd left_; as the fifth-father's unique gift had activated and pulled everyone who had been in front of her away to safety, it had been like a heavy weight had departed from on top of her heart. There was no more room for sorrow, no time to consider anger as the last task stood in front of her, glowing forebodingly as almost as if reading her mind. Hiding her hammer in the proper place once more, she took the first step forwards; almost immediately, a smile started to creep across her face – the mores he reminded herself this was a serious situation that should be treated solemnly, the harder and faster it spread. _Soon_; she thought, now beaming from ear to ear; _soon it'll all be over – I'll have won_. For a few idle seconds, she admired her reflection as she approached; she was a little disappointed that it didn't blink or smile as it had the first time, but with a slight shrug and a 'hup', she jumped feet first onto the end of her journey for redemption.

With a slight clunk, Amy landed directly on the top of the Bloodstone and began to channel power into herself, compressing it, storing it and thinking hard about the best way to use it.

XXX

It had begun; with a stab of panic as he felt the energy spike, Dimitri knew he didn't have long left and he had to get himself in place before it happened – the backlash would cause him considerable pain and, in his current state of infirmity, may even prove fatal. He snarled with impatience, keeping a strong façade up in front of his grandchildren as he saw Lien-Da fiddle with the console on the side of the door; just this one left to bypass and then he could do the rest himself.

"Grandfather, I need…"

"Password is 'eternity'" he snapped quickly, one eye on the events happening miles away; _I never had that much energy within me, not even at the time of my enlightenment_; for a second it struck him that Amy might actually succeed with the plan he had deduced from her single movement of the eyes and the need for urgency increased tenfold. His granddaughter let out a hiss of triumph as the code was accepted and the screen went green, a second later the door to Central Dogma opened up, the solid steel alloy rumbling aside as Dimitri reasserted his grip on Kragok's shoulder, pointing the way inside and speaking again,

"Quickly, set me down inside then leave; seal the way behind yourselves. No time to argue" he added as he caught the look on Lien's face; he couldn't express gratitude enough as the female echidna keep her mouth firmly shut and instead helped her twin support his body into the darkness awaiting within Central Dogma. Once the darkness had engulfed them (Kragok had shut off his eye on Dimitri's command by this point), the grandmaster whispered,

"This is far enough; drop me here and go".

"Grandfather, I…"

"No Lien", even now, at his weakest, the older echidna's voice was able to cut like a knife, "the secrets of Central Dogma are not yours to know yet; you and your brother must leave now – if I do not return within a week, you may enter and bury my body. Now leave".

He heard their footfalls depart and the rumbling of the door, shutting out the chink of light that had penetrated the gloom of this, the most secure secret in a legion of secrecy. The Central Dogma of the Dark Legion, the last liberation from death; built by Dimitri's own hands but never before used as it was imperfect. Now, however, there was no choice; the grandmaster had to trust in his own, much reduced Chaos powers, to preserve his intellect and heart as he embraced his last chance at release from the flesh. As he touched the cool metal of the last hope, painfully pulling himself upwards and leaning against it, trying to twist his badly mauled body into a position that would allow insertion into the womb of the Central Dogma, he realised the time had come. As needles slid into his wrists and ankles, sending tendrils of neuro-fibres into hic connective tissues, all he could do was count the seconds until the impossible store of energy he could see was unleashed in a wave of destruction unlike any other Angel Island had ever seen. A sudden fear gripped the grandmaster; _could she destroy the island by releasing a Chaos blast of that magnitude?_; before he could answer it, however, it was answered for him.

XXX

She was hyper in an instant; in the next she was far beyond it, never ceasing her relentless pull for more power, she wanted as much as this thing could give her and then some more. Amy felt like howling aloud so she did; there was no-one who could hear her and she fought to control the power, trying to stop it controlling her, force her to lash out indiscriminately, waste her effort; she needed to be stronger than she'd ever been in her life to pull this off. Without conscious bidding, the strength she needed came to her.

_I'm going to do this_; she gritted her teeth as she let images flicker through her blurring mind; images of her friends, those she'd let Sojourner take to safety, turned against their will into insensate machines let her carry on, ignoring the faint prickling of heat that was beginning to burn through her boots. _No-one should have a weapon this powerful – absolute power will corrupt absolutely_; now more than ever she could reciprocate Dimitri's feelings of respect; _he had the will to offer peace at every turn, not rain destruction and force his will on everyone. But it could have happened eventually, no matter how strong he could have been_; she laughed a grating laugh, screwing up her face as the messages from her legs were that she was standing in a fire; she blocked out the pain with visions of what could happen when the Bloodstone's allure broke through the grandmaster's good intentions. If anything, that allowed her to press on with her plans to remove the temptation once and for all.

XXX

"She was wrong, you know", Knuckles spoke thickly into the silence left after Cream had been comforted by Vector; the compassionate crocodile had gone to one knee and scooped the rabbit up close to him to stop her throwing herself at Sojourner, screaming that he had to take her back, had to go and save Amy. She had pounded the thick scales of the older Mobian's shoulders until her rage had exhausted itself and she buried her head in his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably as Tails moved up to hold her as well, tears rolling down the end of his own muzzle the void of loss had threatened to swallow them all. Shadow, his eyes wet, managed to look up from where he was watching Sonic's still unconscious body and croak,

"What do you mean?"

"I've had a danger where it was my fault it happened", the echidna couldn't smile, not now, as he turned to face his hedgehog friend, dreadlocks blowing in the stiff breeze that was blowing at wherever it was Sojourner had transported the to; it was a bare and rocky place and, had Knuckles been forced to hazard a guess, he would have said that they were on the edges of the mountain range of the new Angel Island, "I let Eggman steal the Master before; that was my fault".

"Someone stole the Master?" Locke looked at his son in a stern manner but couldn't hold it, the look dropping instead into a weak, sad smile as Thunderhawk spoke in a quieter voice than any present had ever heard him use,

"We all make mistakes fifth-son; it's the mark of humility to apologise for them; it's the mark of greatness to stand up and atone for them. Amy…" not even he could carry on, sinking his head into his hands and weeping softly as memories of the hedgehog he had sparred with ran back through his head. It fell to Spectre, cradling a sobbing Athair in his arms and robes stained with tears, to finish,

"Amy Rose will be remembered forever by the guardians as a warrior without peer and a girl with boundless compassion; her lessons will be taught to future generations as an inspiration". _I don't know what you're doing Amy_; the black echidna thought mournfully as, free from Dimitri's restraints, he could see the build-up of Chaos energy glowing like a new star in the lofty peaks nearby; _but by the Master, everything that was said, will be done to honour you_.

XXX

She was standing barefoot on the surface of Hell; every nerve in her feet and legs screamed blue bloody murder directly to her brain; there was no way she could hold out against this pain, yet still she refused to yield, calling on more power, directing it into her body as she screamed more, the energy threatening to consume her totally. She was so close to breaking point; _it needs a name_; she tried to think as she readied herself for the last act of judgement, the final cleansing of guilt from her soul; _something this big, it needs to have a name_. Her first thought was 'apocalypse', but that was wrong; this was a new beginning, not an end for Angel Island and the echidnas upon it. Suddenly it came to her and she acted upon it, for she could take no more; raising her face to the ceiling and sky beyond it, she finished her quest for revenge, not with a scream, but with a whisper,

"Chaos Cataclysm".

With those two words, Amy finally vented the power she had ripped from the greatest creation Dimitri had ever crafted, but not through her eyes, or her hands, for that would have been useless. No, she knew what was required to make sure no-one, not even one as strong as Dimitri, would ever get their hands on such a deadly, alluring weapon again; with a genuine scream of purest agony; Amy directed all the fire she had within her downwards in one almighty blast. Back down through her legs.

Back into the Bloodstone.

When the flow of energy was so abruptly and violently interrupted, there was only going to be one outcome. For a split-second, the diametrically opposed energies combined and a new sun was born on Angel Island, so brightly did the Bloodstone glow. Then, with a final ear-splitting crash and explosion like a small nuclear bomb, it detonated, blasted apart forever by the strength of Amy's desire to set things right and make a better world for everyone she loved.

For the last time in their lives, Amy Rose and Dimitri felt as one; as she rose on a column of fire, thrown upwards like a leaf in a gale by the force of the explosion; there was pain still, but it couldn't hurt her for she'd won. There was a smile on her face as she raced upwards towards the sky; _I did it – I made everything all right, my mistake is okay_. As the light at the end of the tunnel closed into blackness and she felt herself begin to descend, the power she still had left ebbing from her body, she knew only contentment.

Far away in Necronopolis, a scream of purest distilled agony raced throughout the entire citadel, unmuffled by the steel doors that masked the Central Dogma. The only two other active occupants of the silent city heard that cry; they could not have called themselves Mobian had they not shuddered out of primal fear; _what could do that to the grandmaster of the Dark Legion? Could it come for us next?_

XXX

Shadow felt the wind ruffle his fur, a grim sense of foreboding tugging at him as he waited, like everyone else around him, for an indefinable something to happen; he wasn't sure what he was waiting for, only that he had to keep his eyes peeled and his senses sharp for when it arrived. His crimson eyes swept the darkness ahead of him, not even blinking as the cruel, cold wind flayed his skin to ribbons; he was too wrapped in expectation to pay it any heed. In fact, he was so ready, so waiting to experience this new thing that it was only when a hand like a vice clamped onto his lower arm that he realised with a yell that Sonic had awoken. Everyone close to him jumped startled as the blue hedgehog clawed his way upwards, trying to get back to vertical base as Shadow, reacting out of instinct, tried to help him,

"Sonic, hold it, you're a bit unsteady, take it slow"; it didn't look like he was listening as, rather than trying to regain his balance, the blue blur pushed himself forwards and lurched a couple of paces forwards before stumbling, collapsing into the front of Sabre. As the doctor scrambled to support the sudden extra weight, a soft voice froze him dead in his track,

"Amy", shaking his head to clear it, Sonic glanced around blearily, though Sabre saw his eyes narrow dangerously as he saw the rose hedgehog wasn't present, "where is she?" Sabre was unsure how to answer as it seemed telling Sonic that she'd stayed behind would tip him over the edge, but as two immovable hands fastened on the front of his shirt, he was dragged forwards with a yelp and found himself eye to monocle with the blue hedgehog.

"_Where is she!"_

All his training had been geared towards impartial compassion to people under duress, but as he looked into those stormy seas of green, Sabre knew in a split-second that none of his training would matter here. His tongue had glued itself immovably to the roof of his mouth and all he could do was blink and shake his head in the face of Sonic's emotional turmoil; grief, rage, hatred and fear combining and feeding on each other to transform Sonic into something all at once far weaker than he had been, yet so much, much more powerful, more fearsome, a slave to his loss. He couldn't answer; even if he had known where Amy was now, he would never have been able to tell the blue hedgehog simply because he could see nothing but those green eyes, wracked with loss and fire. He had the vague impression the he was being shaken for his tardiness in answering but he wasn't really aware of it. In the next second, however, Sonic had his question answered for him at the same time as Sabre's mind was pummelled by the backlash from a Chaos blast of unimaginable magnitude.

XXX

The darkness of the night was pierced and the silence broken by a dull, rumbling bang and a blast of strangely warm air, rushing over them heavy with the energy of Chaos as, in the distance, flame and ash gouted from one of the mountains, the fires rising like some ancient dragon's breath before collapsing back in on themselves, scorching the side of the mountain black. Sabre felt the grip on the front of his shirt drop dimly; he was holding his head in his hands, trying to block out the released, wild power and spare his pain. He managed to open his eyes in time to see his grandfathers and son doing likewise, thought Knuckles merely flinched – his gifts weren't sufficiently developed to sense anything like the explosion that had just occurred in the distance.

"Sonic, no", there was a panicked shout as something white raced over and tried to place a hand on the hedgehog, shouting aloud, "it's too dangeaahh". Rouge dropped like a stone as Sonic span on his heel and something yellow glinted in the gloom; it connected solidly with the side of the bat's jaw; before anyone else had had time to even consider moving, there was a rush of air and Sonic was gone, running away from them all; silhouetted in the flare of the dying mountain, bellowing aloud Amy's name over and over. There was a muffled curse and sudden fire, another voice making itself heard over the confusion,

"Everyone stay here", Shadow roared to forestall the Chaotix and Knuckles, all of whom looked like they were about to take off after the runaway, blasting off his jet skates and leaving a trail of flame as he took off, "I'm going after him". With that, the chase was on, and it was one Shadow knew, even as he pushed himself harder than he ever had in the past he could remember, he could not afford to lose.

XXX

There were no obstacles in his path; everything he came across he ran over, around or through, never taking his eyes off the destination; the flame guttering in the hole that had been blasted into the mountain side, now flickering and dying. He knew he had to get there before it died out completely, for it was Amy's fire; while it burned, she was still alive. Tears threatened but he didn't let them fall, they would blind him and he had not the time to dash them away.

It was a run that should have taken even him minutes, maybe more in the darkness; he should have picked his way carefully over rocks that could have tripped him, roots and straggly brambles that could have upended him; on this night, with this new and most important goal in his sights, these obstructions never materialised and it took him less than half a minute. He was at the blast sight, ringed in a halo of smoke and vitrified rock, within twenty seconds and heedless of the heat or the sharp edges of jagged rocks and metal shards underfoot, plunged inside, close to the end and bellowing the name aloud,

"Amy!" He had to go slower now, he could miss her in the confusion of this havoc; calling her name, darting past still-smouldering fires and hot-footing it through the twisted forests of melted walls and partially collapsed ceilings, Sonic still made progress, trying to see everything in the darkness of this place. _I can't find her_; desperation began to set in, the gnawing urge that he had been too late, that she'd never know, tore at him and he ploughed on, caring less and less about himself as he scalded some of the hair off his body on the hot remains of the walls and slashed open his arms and face on some on the twisted fragments that jutted everywhere; _she never stopped, I can't now – I have to find her – point me!_

He watched on at his last, best hope; the weight of the Chaos Emerald he still held in his hand suddenly pressed in on him and he drew on it's ability; he knew from his own experiences that, in close proximity, each of these jewels reacted to the other. He wafted it around suddenly like an incense burner, dodging to the side as part of the ceiling over his head collapsed with a groan. He barely registered it as he move on, alert for anything that could be indication of the red Chaos Emerald Amy had near her at the end. His emerald glowed slightly and the breath caught in his throat; he rushed forwards once more, nothing but the glow in front of his eyes in his mind; he spin dashed through a weakened wall in front of him and burst into what had been the centre of base alpha; the place where Dimitri had met his match and his master.

He was still for second; the ludicrous though was that someone had taken a gigantic ice-cream scoop and just carved a perfectly circular hole in the middle of this mountain pressing in on him. But it wasn't perfect; the ceiling was ragged and there was debris from the ceiling raining down, a cave-in was imminent and nothing in here would survive; Sonic knew what would happen next and, as he saw a flash of pink at the base of this unnatural cavern, he suddenly couldn't care less.

He didn't think, he just acted; racing down the steep side of the slope as though it were nothing more than a mild incline, he threw the Chaos emerald away as though it was a piece of gravel and flung himself forwards towards the comatose hedgehog. His hands landed on either side of Amy's shoulders and he stretched as much as he could, shielding her body with his as his ears informed him that parts of the ceiling were starting to come loose. He extended his spines as much as was possible to lessen the impact and gritted his teeth, waiting for the pain that duly arrived.

A rain of what felt like boulders and knife exploded into his back; he fought to keep from screaming with pain, eventually losing that fight as every time shoot of agony was transmitted in fine detail up to his brain. He could feel something warm beginning to spread between his shoulders, though he didn't dwell on it as he directed every ounce of his effort on holding himself up; his arms shook with the effort of resisting the pain, but they wouldn't buckle. Couldn't buckle. Not when the most important thing in his life was at stake.

Something clubbed him on the back of the head and forced it down; he shook away stars and tried to straighten again before he paused and his heart exploded with relief. There was a faint breeze, so faint in barely ruffled the fur on his cheek, but it was there and it was regular, drifting up to him from Amy's slightly open mouth. Sonic's tears fell once more, dripping onto Amy's unconscious face as he didn't bother to check them; even if in a few moments it wouldn't matter, he knew that Amy was alive. He would die here when the ceiling finally caved in and crushed him like a grape, that was certain, but Sonic smiled as the pain faded away into a comfortable numbness and his vision darkened, that didn't matter, he was with Amy at the end. As the last impact drove into him and knocked the consciousness from his body he slumped over the prone form of his love, his last thought was as typically random and as chaotic as his life had been; _strange, who'd be calling my name here?_

XXX

Shadow took in the scene in front of him in one terrifying soul-destroying instant; he had done his best to try and stay on Sonic's tail on the way here but had realised he hadn't a chance at that; he'd done well to make it to the base a minute behind the blue blur. He'd had much the same fight getting into this half-collapsed place as Sonic, but maybe his task had been harder; he had not had a Chaos emerald to guide him – only when the bellows of pain had reached his ears had he been able to find his way to this place.

"Sonic!" The ebony hedgehog cursed violently as he saw the fist-sized rock descend from on high to right on the top of Sonic's head; from the way he simply fell forwards Shadow knew he was out cold. The black hedgehog knew there was no way he could leave anyone here; if either of the two hedgehogs survived without the other they would shrivel up on the inside; visions of a hedgehog dressed in black leather with a voice like a rusty hacksaw made Shadow shudder as he skidded his way down the slope that led to the base of this hole. _But I can't carry them, this place is going to give any second_; he had to trust in himself, in what he thought he'd seen during his imprisonment and the secrets that may have unlocked; _there's only one chance or…_; he cut himself off as he skipped past a tumbled boulder and snatched up what he needed. Flames spurted from the soles of his unique footwear as he rocketed over to the unmoving bodies of his friends, the yellow emerald clutched tight in his hand. He quickly grabbed both their hands in a single one of his and, glancing upwards and licking his lips, spoke in a quavering, small voice,

"Chaos Control".

Nothing happened; he knew it wouldn't if he kept chickening out like that; speaking firmly, the black hedgehog tried to chivvy himself along with a tongue-lashing,

"Come on, I've done this before, I know I have", he closed his eyes, seeing once more Amy and Dimitri using the powers of the emeralds to dance; _I've done that as well, the Metal Overlord made me forget it – and I need to do it again now_; "Chaos Control now". Tears of frustration boiled in his eyes as still the stone sat in his paw, unfeeling and unresponsive to his pleas,

"No, they don't deserve this, Chaos Control", the black hedgehog raved as tears stained his face, "they've earnt their chance, I have to give it to them, Chaos control now!" There was a sudden vision of what would happen if he failed now; Tails and Cream were inconsolable, weeping helplessly in his mind as he screamed to the aching sky,

"They deserve a chance to be happy together! CHAOS CONTROL!" He felt it happen; saw the yellow emerald wink and then glow brightly, there was a strange sensation, not dissimilar to sinking into a warm bath as the scene before his eyes faded, replaced with the dancing silhouettes of the two siblings of the Mobians who's hands he now held.

XXX

"Whoa"; Vector moved quickly to drag Tails and Cream, who were still crying and holding onto each other for support, away as sickly yellow light began to play over the scene. The light glow brightened and the crocodile saw the guardians move up closer to the source of the glow, obviously it had to be something to do with Chaos power. He kept his eyes trained on the spot, blinking to keep his sight clear as the light increased and then dimmed, shrinking downwards to the level of the ground as Locke challenged,

"Who's there? What's going on?" There was a short period of time where there was no answer, then a feeble voice as though weary beyond endurance, shouted back,

"Sabre", it said hoarsely, the black tips of Shadow's quills just about visible above the glowing corona of jaundiced light, "get Sabre, I think they're both alive". _Both_; Vector's not inconsiderable jaw fell open as the Chaos Control finished and he saw the scene in full.

Shadow was swaying on his knees, looking are tired as the croc had ever seen him, the yellow Chaos emerald falling from his hand as though he was too weak to hold it any longer. His other hand, though, never relinquished its grip, never let go of the arms of the two he had pulled from the fire; still one atop the other, Sonic and Amy lay as though asleep; but for the blood dribbled down Sonic's back and the sickening scent of charred meat from somewhere, they could have been resting. Vector took this in and instinctively tightened his hold as the echidna surgeon raced over from where he had been looking over Rouge to the black hedgehog. Of course, this restriction brought furious critism from the two he held now,

"Let go", Tails demanded as he fought to try and get free, straining to try and see how badly his brother had been injured, "I've gotta see Sonic; he's gotta be okay". Cream didn't even talk, concentrating everything on getting free of the grip that, if anything tightened further,

"No you two, stay put", Vector said warningly, "Sabre's the one who needs to see them, he's qualified and…"

"Sojourner, over here; rest of you, channel!"

"…there you go; now if you two had been underfoot, he might not have seen them that quick. I'm gonna let you go now, but keep your heads, okay".

"Fine"; the two answered immediately and he trusted their word; dropping them and seeing them scamper over to the side of Sojourner, he looked up and whistled to Charmy, who'd been overhead the whole time. The bee dropped to the floor, looking worried as Espio's traditional purple colour reasserted itself in the night.

"What's goin' on buzz-boy?"

"It, er, it's not too good", Charmy lowered his voice, reciting what he had been able to glean from his elevated position, "Sonic's back is a mess, looks like he got crushed by something and I couldn't see Amy at all, but I don't think Sabre would call a channel if it wasn't serious".

"Seconded", Espio added suddenly before looking around and pointing, "and I know where we can find out more". The chameleon indicated where Shadow was leaning against Knuckles, the black hedgehog still catching his breath as the Chaotix approached, giving the Brotherhood a wide berth as the echidnas within it extended their hands. Thinking fast, Espio flicked out his tongue and snagged the yellow emerald from the floor, spitting it out, polishing it and then offering it,

"Think you dropped this". Shadow looked around and groaned,

"No, keep it away", he waved the glowing jewel away feebly, "I never want to do that again". The chameleon shrugged and passed the jewel into Knuckles' outstretched paw before reaching for another of his sore throat sweets, Vector carrying on in his place,

"So what happened in there?"

"From what I can tell, Amy trashed the base, that explosion was caused by her. If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say she used the Bloodstone and blew the place sky-high. When I got there, she was already out and Sonic", the former ultimate life-form swallowed an uncomfortable lump in his throat, "he, he'd thrown himself on top of her; the ceiling was starting to come down and he protected her. I saw him get knocked out from the rain from the top and ran to help. I snatched the emerald from where he'd dropped it and tried a Chaos Control".

"Shadow", Knuckles was alert for this instantly, only wishing Rouge was still on her feet; she was better at this sort of thing than him, "you, um, you remembered how to?"

"Sort of", he tried to explain, "when we were in those tubes, I watched Amy and Dimitri do it for fighting, I just sort of remembered that I had done it too. I was lucky though, I nearly ran out of time; listen, there you go".

A dull rumble echoed out into the night; thousands of tonnes of rock crumbling down onto other rock as the mountainside, weakened by Amy's subterranean detonation, lost its structural integrity and collapsed completely with a mighty landslide. The five friends watched it happen, silent for a moment as the noise died away, realising how close that had been, before Charmy spoke into the noiseless atmosphere,

"So how did you do it in the end?"

"I reminded myself they deserved a chance at happiness together", alert for Knuckles' sudden look, he raised a hand to forestall the guardian, "I know that's important but right now the only thing is to make sure those two are all right". The other four Mobians nodded sadly, watching on as the channel circle was finally completed; with a clever bit of manoeuvring, Sojourner was able to touch both Amy and Sonic while his third-son held onto his shoulders; with a green light he was gone; Tails and Cream were silhouetted in the light of the power and stood still together for a second before hurrying over, gabbling at top speed,

"Sabre said they're going to Haven; when they get there they'll break the channel and we're walking with the other guardians. It's a bit away though, so we're in for a walk".

"Are they going to be alright?" Neither of the younger Mobians saw who asked, but both bowed their heads, suddenly fatigued with the emotional burden this had been,

"Something bad happened to Amy's feet, looks like they were burned badly. Sabre wants to look at her quickly; that's why he called the channel. He thinks though, given a bit of time, they should be okay".

Shadow exhaled slowly, warmth in his body that hadn't been there moments before; looking around he saw that everyone else must have been feeling a similar sort of thing. There was no talking, each Mobian alone with his or her thoughts for several minutes until a loud, commanding voice from behind them broke the trance of silence.

"Well, are you going to stand there all night?" _The channel must have ended_; Knuckles thought with a smile as he recognised his seventh-father's voice; sure enough, Spectre was overseeing his remaining sons as they formed a loose group to move for Haven.

"I don't think so; if the wind changes I'll be stuck like this"; squinting, Knuckles was just able to see Espio's outline where he'd blended in with the darkness of the night, a strangely light tone in his voice the echidna hadn't heard there before. Chuckling, strangely unable to keep a wide smile off his own lips, he bent down and gently slid his arms under Rouge's still unconscious form, lifting her easily as Vector offered,

"Want to take it in turns?"

"Nah, she's not that heavy" the echidna said loudly, secretly hoping Rouge was just faking unconsciousness to get a carry home; it wasn't something he minded doing, I fact he rather liked holding the bat this close. Swinging around quickly to face his seventh-father, he stopped as there was a sudden 'oww'; Cream glared up at him, rubbing a sore ear,

"Watch where you're putting her big feet".

It was probably just the spur of the moment nature of the quip, but it was enough; Charmy smiled and then sputtered, Knuckles quickly set Rouge back down as he felt it was coming and then, almost as one, every single Mobian there burst out laughing, each revelling in the knowledge that, despite all that had happened and the danger they'd been in, they could still find happiness enough to laugh and enjoy the sensation that both they and everyone they cared for had come away alive.

A/N: Only one or two more chapter left to go; might need some time to really get them right, but hopefully I can wrap this up soon.


	30. Chapter 29 When Rabbits Roar

Chapter 29 – When Rabbit's Roar.

A/N: As ever, I am humbly grateful to my reviewers:

Komodo – Don't worry about Dimitri; you'll see what happened to him next chapter, and besides Sega's already got a Ridley character; I am of course referring to Metal Sonic. How many times has he had his rear end handed to him by the whole team collectively? And he still just keeps on coming; man I want to know his insurance company details.

TH – (Author points finger of doom at his cast, black lightning sparking at the tip) I didn't want to do this, but you've forced me; Secret Author Power number three: Instant Character Insertion – I choose…(there's a flash of black lightning to the floor and a split-second later, a much reviled figure appears)…Omochao! (Author raises hands above his head and every last drop of Red Bull that was brought down in the waterfall rushes up into the sky). Upgrade to… (the caffeine rich drink forms a stream that is forced down Omochao's neck, causing him to swell like a beach ball)…Hyper Omochao! Now TH, run for it! (Author heads for the hills before Omochao can start talking, stuffing his fingers in his ears to keep out the awful babbling. At a safe distance, he stops). Right, hopefully he'll put them in a coma, and I'll have enough time to get them into shape for the finale. (Author looks down and smiles evilly at TH); now, next time you introduce Red Bull to my stories, I'll introduce Seraph to yours!

The light flickered overhead, but she was still so sleepy; Rouge was tempted to just ignore the light that hung irritatingly overhead and concentrate on going back to sleep; with this foremost in her mind, the bat took a huge yawn – that buried the idea of her sleeping any time soon.

A jet of white-hot pain burst into her brain as her badly bruised jaw was stretched by the sudden movement; eyes wide with this unexpected shock, she half-sat up in the bed she found herself in, clapping both her hands to her mouth and squeezing as though trying to rip the agony off her face. She gave a muffled moan as it subsided slightly, gradually relaxing her taut muscles as her injury settled down again, leaving her feeling drained and strangely weary, almost as if she was too tired to sleep. So she simply lay there, looking up at the weak light that hung over her bed as though it could put her in a trance and let her nod off eventually. It could have been seconds, minutes or several days before she heard the voice that floated in through the darkness,

"Ah I see you're awake Rouge", she recognised it as belonging to Sabre, though he sounded tired and ill, "good, you've been out longer than expected". Bracing herself for the effort and soreness that were sure to follow, the bat mustered the effort to speak,

"What happened?" _Not as bad as I thought_; she winced as dullness tingled through her jaw, though it was more than bearable. Her super-sensitive ears detected movement from her left and she genteelly turned her head to face the shuffling footsteps; the pain from her sudden gasp forgotten as she saw Sabre come into the circle of light above her.

The echidna surgeon looked dreadful; exhaustion was saturating every inch of him and he looked like he wanted to do nothing more than collapse. His pale, gaunt face looked up towards her and he managed to dredge up a very weak smile out of somewhere, speaking in his breathless, feeble voice,

"I know I'm not much to look at; forgive me but I can't take questions right now", he didn't even have the energy to raise a hand to forestall her questions; it looked to her like it was all he could do to shake his head, "I'll inform my grandson you're awake, and then I must rest". Rouge nodded, her face in as much of a look of concern as her injury would allow before she managed to mangle a few words together,

"You look terrible; go sleep". Without answering, his eyelids already drooping, Sabre turned away and shuffled back out of her line of vision; she settled herself back down and waited, hearing a door open and then close again; Sabre must have left the surgery.

In the few quiet moments after he'd left, the bat tried to remember what had happened; she definitely remembered Amy beat the mad echidna and set them all free, but she'd not let them get near her, holding them all back and even knocking Sonic out to make sure he couldn't break through. Then Sojourner had done something; they'd ended up on what felt like a mountainside, but from then on it got a little confusing; _there was a jet of fire as one of the volcano's erupted and then…how did this happen?_; she felt her jaw ache more and gingerly inspected it with the very tips of her fingers; it was a large swelling mass that seemed to have spread from her law to halfway up her cheek and halfway down her neck. It was a bit of a blur beyond that; there was definitely something yellow involved but she couldn't tell more than that. Growling in frustration, the bat tried to settle down but found she couldn't; Sabre had said Knuckles would be coming to visit her and, suddenly child-like, she couldn't wait, her pain drowned out by excitement.

Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long at all; she heard the door Sabre must have exited through open again, more rapidly but still as quietly as possible it was shut, then there were footsteps, quick and light, leading up to her bed; a second later, Rouge smiled despite the agony that shot along her aggravated jaw as Knuckles burst through the curtain of light, worry on his face as he dropped to his knees next to her and clutched her closest hand,

"Rouge, are you okay? Sabre said you woke up before he fainted; I ran him to the nearest bed and came straight here; I'm so glad you're awake, you gave us all a shock". Rouge gave the echidna's larger hand a reassuring grip before looking at him hard,

"Sabre fainted; is he…?"

"He's fine", Knuckles waved away her question like it was an annoying fly, "he's just exhausted; he's apparently been working non-stop since he arrived here, patching up the other two and…" Rouge sat straight up, suddenly heedless of the pain that blossomed as she questioned furiously,

"What other two; who's hurt?" Knuckles clapped a hand to his forehead, angry with himself as he tried to use his other arm to push her back down,

"Listen, just sit back and try to relax; you'll hurt yourself more if you don't. I've got to explain what happened after Sonic put your lights out".

"Sonic"; _yes, that's it – he had the yellow emerald in his hand when he swung at me, because I tried to stop him running at where that explosion went off_; a little more comfortable now she knew the cause of her injury, the bat gave a rueful smile and rubbed her sore spot, suddenly carefree despite the grim circumstances,

"Good punch that one; better than anything you've ever hit me with". Unusually, and to her eyes, concerningly, Knuckles didn't join in the joke, he offered a fleeting smile before speaking again, not relinquishing his hold on her hand all the time he talked,

"Sonic ran off towards the explosion; I've never seen him go like that either", he favoured her with a look that spoke of renewed respect and deep fear, "I saw his face when he hit you; it was like he was possessed; he just took off. Shadow went after him before I could really react, all I saw the flame from his boots. It was quiet for a few minutes then there was a yellow light around us", his eyes locked onto hers and she caught the impression that he was trying hard to think of a decent way to explain this, "it was Shadow; he'd done a Chaos Control".

"Really?" The bat turned that over in her mind; if he'd unlocked that secret, there was always a chance for more, "what else, did he say anything?"

"Not at first; we were all too busy with", Knuckles cut off, unwilling to court the image he had of that awful moment of confusion and doubt; _I wasn't sure if they were alive or dead – I don't want to put Rouge through that_. She saw his face fall and reached up, gently tracing one of her fingers across the soft fuzz on his cheek, speaking softly,

"With what Knuxie; tell me, I can handle it". Taking a breath, the echidna steeled what courage he had left and then quickly blurted the words out as though they were toxic,

"With Sonic and Amy", her eyes widened dramatically and her jaw fell open as he finished, "Shadow brought them back with him; Sabre looked at them and brought them here with Sojourner; they're both alive".

Rouge fell back onto her blanket, limp as a rag doll with relief for that mercy, repeating it over and over in her head that both were still alive, that was the most important thing. Allowing her time for this to sink in, the echidna fell silent, resolving not to speak until she made the first move.

"Are they here?" _That was quick_;

"Yes, they, er, they're over there as a matter of fact", Knuckles pointed a way over to her right and opposite where she lay; as soon as she saw the direction, the bat pressed her hands to the blanket on the side of her and pushed upwards, determination drowning her pain. Knuckles gave a low bark of alarm and tried to push her back,

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Gonna see them", Rouge pushed harder, throwing back the nausea the movement generated with force of will, "you all have right?" Knuckles, seeing her idea, suddenly changed his grip, sliding his hand around her back and gently supporting her rather than trying to push back; slowly, she made it to a sitting position and closed her eyes, letting her breathing even out gradually as her injury and resultant unconsciousness combined to give her a spell of dizziness.

"You sure you're feeling up to this Rouge?" Belated doubts were beginning to crawl, maggot-like, over Knuckles as he saw just how much that lucky strike had taken out of her; sensing his worry, the bat put a brave face on things and nodded,

"Yeah, just give me a sec", she probed the inside of her mouth with a tongue, "I gorra hoss toof". Knuckles knitted his brows as he tried to decipher the muffled speech,

"Come again?"

"I've got a loose tooth; damn he hit me hard", the bat's eyes flared with temper as she set her sights on the darkness opposite, "he thinks he's hurt now, just wait 'til he's well enough to take a pounding. Come on, I'm over it now but I'll need to lean on you". The echidna raised an eyebrow,

"Moral support right?" She gave sickly sweet smile and offered a hand,

"Something like that, now on three; three!" With a heave and catch motion, Knuckles swung Rouge up and up onto her feet; she collapsed against him and clung there, no longer awkward in such a situation as she took her time and gradually found her feet. Releasing his grip by increments, the echidna let her support her own bodyweight by degrees, though he remained close at hand just in case. When she gave him the nod, he dropped slightly behind her, though she was sensible enough to take the journey steady so the fall he was dreading never arrived.

The bat was scanning the way ahead of her with her natural sonar sound, alert for unseen obstacles that could hamper her in this darkness; the last thing she'd need now would be to fall and belt her jaw again. She therefore saw it coming and reached her hands forwards, gripping onto the bed rail as it sidled up in front of her, letting her take the strain off her legs. As she supported herself on her arms, she tried to will her eyes, well used to operating in dim light, to see what lay before her. It took a few endless minutes, but slowly, almost as thought what was there was ashamed to be seen by her, a shape took form; a bed stripped of its covers, with a single stunted figure on top of it. Night vision is monochrome, so it was only when she looked up, towards the head of the figure, that she could tell that this was Sonic. She sagged forwards, well aware of Knuckles standing just behind her in case she should fall, but the only thing that fell were her tears; _what happened to you spiky? How could this happen to you?_

The blue hedgehog she had come to know and respect was lying face down on the bed; the only way she could tell it was him was because the quills at the top of his head were still present, not flattened with the bandages that swathed the rest of his back. Every inch of his normally blue fur was covered by the white bandages and his breathing was shallow but strong. The bat hung her head, trying to reassure herself that this was only temporary, that soon Sonic would be back on his feet, not an invalid in this hospital ward. Rouge looked up once more and glanced to her left; she realised she couldn't see Amy, not now, for her echolocation had shown two strange, spindly figures, one either side of the bed next to her, standing like proud, stern sentinels; _drip feeds_. The bat pushed herself backwards and upright, feeling now more unsteady than she had moments ago in the wake of this new horror;_ this shouldn't have happened, not to them – they didn't deserve it_.

"I know", Knuckles' voice was soft and grave, "it looks bad, but Sabre's sure they'll, both be all right given time". Rouge gingerly wiped her eyes and shook her head,

"What happened? How did they get like this?"

"I'll tell you in a minute; first let's get you back to bed. You're not really supposed to be up and about – if Sabre finds out it'll be my neck". Rouge tried to turn and deliver the quip that was on the tip of her tongue but as she made the sudden spin on her heel, she felt the world twist suddenly and her legs gave way. She was going down when there was a rush beside her and suddenly she was quite literally swept off her feet; smart enough to realise she wasn't going to be steady enough to walk, the bat put her arms around the echidna's thick neck and held on as he paced his way across the room,

"Easy batgirl; don't worry, I had a lot of practise getting you here". She felt his come to a stop and removed her arms as she asked,

"Practise?" She heard his gruff chuckle and the slight scrape of a stool being pulled up by the side of her bed,

"How do you think you got here; I carried you from the blast site, but anyway that's not important", in the semi-darkness, Knuckles missed the look of almost wonder that passed over Rouge's face, "Shadow told us as we walked back; he arrived in time to see the base just before it caved in on itself. He said Amy was already unconscious; Sonic had thrown himself on top of her as the ceiling started to come down, the falling debris made a hell of a mess of his back".

"Is there anything serious?" Rouge asked concerned; she knew enough about anatomy to know that damage to the back could easily turn to spinal injuries,

"Sabre doesn't think so", she breathed a little easier, "but he admits he spent most of his time on Amy; her legs got badly burned by something and he needed to get them sorted or she could have been crippled for life. He reckons he got most of it, but there may be a little lasting damage, nothing too serious though". Rouge let out a heartfelt sigh of relief, so like the one that everyone else had unleashed when Sabre, bone-weary but triumphant, had emerged from his surgery and told them the news; there hadn't been any celebrations as everyone had been too exhausted. The bat was so wrapped up in her relief that she only caught the tail end of Knuckles' next line,

"…talk to him?" She glanced around confused, managing to ignore the pain in her jaw,

"Who?"

"Shadow", the echidna repeated himself, a little irked that she hadn't been listening, "I think you might need to talk to him soon; you know him better than I do". Rouge propped herself up on her elbows, looking intently into the guardian's face,

"Why; what's wrong with him?"

"It was something he said, just after he did that Chaos Control – he was shattered by doing it as well", he added before looking the bat square in the eye, "Charmy asked how he did it and he said something about them deserving a chance for happiness; you thinking what I'm thinking?" Rouge nodded, her sharp mind drawing instant conclusions that may have a devastating impact on the back hedgehog's amnesia,

"Maria?"

"yeah, but I didn't say anything; he asked me not to, said the most important thing was getting the two injured safe, brave of him if you ask me", he turned his head to the side and let out a huge yawn; it was only at this point she realised the huge bags under his eyes.

"Why are you so tired?" The yawn broke down into a snort of laughter as the echidna smiled at her in amusement,

"Because I, unlike you, had to walk for several hours to get home, carrying, I might add, a burden that proved to be a little heavier than it first looked", he took time to lean back from the slap Rouge sent his way, her bruise preventing her from the full, majestic scowl she had planned and making her mouth twist lopsidedly,

"Cheeky swine; I'm just grateful you weren't Code, I'd have arms like a gorilla after dragging you back to Haven. But anyway, you all walked back?"

"Yeah, we just walked, it was strange", Knuckles let his chin droop onto his fist as he pondered it, "we should have all been knackered, but no, we all made the journey fine. When we got here, we all saw Sabre looking like death warmed up and that was it, whoomph, lights out city; I think Vector nearly passed out on the spot. We all dragged ourselves to whatever bed we could find and crashed out". Rouge examined his face and raised an eyebrow,

"You don't look like you've slept well". The guardian smiled and looked down at her meaningfully,

"Been catnapping".

"You look dog-tired", the bat quipped before she shuffled over on the bed and patted it, "come on; we both need some shut eye". Knuckles made to start arguing when he caught the glint in her eye and though better of it – pushing the chair backwards, he flumped down next to her, not bothering with the blanket as it would have been too hot. For a second both treasure hunters were content, then darkness rose up and claimed them both, dragging them into unconsciousness as they were swept aside by the tiredness that seemed to saturate the air of Haven.

XXX

"Ahem". _If _ _I ignore it, it'll go away – I need a few more hours_;

"Ahem"; the voice was a little more insistent this time and with a snarl of annoyance, Knuckles realised it wasn't going to go away. Grudgingly, he blinked one eye open and tried to read what the blurry picture was trying to tell him. He saw a vague blob of red and tried to focus on it; a couple of seconds later than he would have liked he saw his grandfather, hands on hips and smiling broadly, looking down at him in a manner that spoke of light-hearted reproof. _Wonder what_…?; it was as he looked forwards, trying to see what was causing the wind on his cheek, that he immediately realised what Sabre was smirking at – with a yelp, he pushed himself backwards from Rouge and just narrowly avoided skidding off the bed, arms flailing as he tried to regain his balance, aware of Sabre's amused eyes tracing his every movement like a crosshair.

"Nothing happened" he blustered, cheeks as red as his fur as he finally managed to stand up; Sabre's eyebrow almost threatened to usurp his monocle as it shot up as high as it could go,

"Just as well", he said jokily, watching his grandson squirm and knowing he couldn't help himself from making it just that little bit worse, "this ward's surgery, not maternity; now go dunk your head in a bucket before your cheeks give your shoulders third-degree burns". Knuckles ran for the door, not meeting his grandfather's eye as Sabre had to exert every iota of his seven year training not to wake up his other patients by breaking down laughing.

"And what was all that about the Hippocratic Oath?" Sabre looked up from where he'd just finished washing his hands; Rouge was looking up at him from the bed she'd recently shared with Knuckles with a huge grin on her face, fighting not to laugh just like he had. Sabre brought the towel to his arms as he answered,

"Well, he was violating hospital etiquette; visitors should not rest on patient beds, it's unhygienic. Now", his eyes fell on her, scanning her face like an X-ray, "how are you feeling?" She took a few seconds to answer, working her jaw minutely and seeing if she still felt dizzy,

"I, er, I think I'm all right; I tried moving last night, I was a bit unsteady on my feet but otherwise I was fine. Now be honest; how do I look?"

"Probably a lot better than Dimitri does" Sabre answered, his face falling as he unconsciously sent a look towards the bed that must have contained Amy, the two drip feeds dangling bags that snaked tubes towards the occupant. There was a second of solemn silence before Rouge dared ask the begging question tentatively,

"Will she be alright?" To her eternal relief, Sabre nodded

"Yes, there shouldn't be any long-term effect save maybe a very slight limp for a while. She must have been stood on the Bloodstone when she was draining from it…"

"Standing", with concern for the two hedgehogs, Rouge had nearly completely forgotten about the red ruby that started all of this, "what did she do with it?" Sabre flashed out a very sharp look,

"She destroyed it, utterly. It's dust now; she must have ripped out so much energy that it weakened, then directed all her power back into it, blasting it to powder. That abomination of the Master is gone forever; we all felt it go, it was the explosion that destroyed base alpha". Rouge blinked as that didn't sink in,

"Amy, destroyed it?"

"Completely; grandfather Spectre can fill you in more if you need to, but now if you're feeling up to it, I must ask you to leave", he gestured towards the door before pointing at Sonic, "I'm hoping to heal some of the damage to his back; he may or may not regain consciousness as I do, and I may need to test if his memory had been damaged by the rain of rocks that knocked him out". Rouge nodded and slid her legs off the edge of the bed, testing her balance and weight as she levered herself up. _No, feeling fine_; she gave a smile to the surgeon and made her way towards the door, trying not to look at any reflective surfaces in case she gave herself a nasty shock.

"Head for the centre", she paused as Sabre spoke again, his tone kindly, "it's a bit chaotic, but when I left most people were there and in good spirits". The bat waved a hand in thanks and left the surgery, not seeing as Sabre slid his spurs underneath Sonic's bandages and, making peace with the Master, made the first cut to the pristine wrappings.

XXX

"Going for my look Rouge", Espio spoke acerbically as he saw the bat enter the centre of Haven, "needs to be a bit of a lighter purple for that". A larger scaly hand swatted the back of the ninja's head as Vector shook his head and nodded at the former spy,

"Sorry Rouge, but that's about as close to a joke as Espio's ever likely t'get; you feeling better, and seen red around?" The bat had to quickly stifle a smile; _I saw his tail as he legged it around the surgery door, but that was it_; she took a seat next to him as everyone else who was present waved and moved to see her; within a few seconds, she had a small audience as she had come from the hospital area of Haven,

"I'm feeling a lot better, but", she held a spoon up to see her face more clearly and grimaced as the livid purple of the bruise Sonic had given her sprang into clear relief, "I'm not going to be winning any beauty contests any time soon".

"It'll go down eventually", Vector spoke consolingly as Tails brought over a bowl of what appeared to be porridge and set it down in front of her, looking up expectantly,

"Have you seen Sonic; how is he, and is Amy going to be all right?" A little taken aback by the rapid fire questions, the bat eventually shook her head,

"I didn't get a good look at Sonic", almost without meaning to, she saw the concerted slumped of shoulders as everyone who was listening, Tails smacking a fist into his palm and looking frustrated with worry, "but Sabre says he's going to be working on him for today and he might wake up". The foxboy smiled at this, Shadow also raised an eyebrow as he raised a glass to his lips,

"Just as well, need him to sign the rent with me". There was general laughter at this as Rouge rolled her eyes and absent-mindedly brought a spoon of porridge to her lips. The way her face seemed to implode on itself caught attention from a rather unwanted quarter as Athair, dressed up for cooking, swept over the table towards her, delight in his innocent eyes as he ladled some more of the strangely grey mush into her already full bowl,

"Oh goody, someone to finish this relish; I found the secret – a dash of Tabasco sauce you know, gives it a bit of a kick. Now eat up, there's another pot on the stove as we speak". With that, he arrowed off and, after a great deal of cajoling and bribery, Rouge forced herself to swallow the mouthful she'd just taken, feeling it settle on her stomach like a concrete bowling ball.

"Um, Tails?" The fox shot backwards with his arms upraised,

"No, no way and never; we've all done our bit now it's your turn".

"You all…"

"Yep", Vector broke in, rubbing his stomach as though trying to comfort a traumatised pet, "one bowlful each; something about Spectre giving him permission to cook a victory breakfast to take our minds off things just before he fell asleep last night. He managed that and then some; now all I'm thinking about is how much this is going to kill me tomorrow". Rouge felt her inside shrivel up as the slosh in her bowl seemed to glare up at her malevolently; _now I know why Sabre wanted to make an early start – hope he's ready for a flood of food poisoning cases_.

XXX

As the remains of the breakfast were cleared away, there was a definite increase in nervous tension; no-one save Shadow and Rouge left the centre of Haven, it seemed no-one could concentrate on anything bar what Sabre was doing and how Sonic and Amy would recover from their injuries. The most interesting thing that happened was Spectre expressedly forbidding Athair to ever go near a balloon whisk again in his life; the black echidna spent most of the morning giving private apologises to everyone who'd forced themselves to down a bowlful of the dreadful Guardian's Relish, stating that Athair had waylaid him just as he was half-asleep and not really paying attention to what his manic descendent was saying.

It was as he had managed to corner Knuckles privately, not realising that his seventh-son had only just plucked up the courage to face everyone, mortally embarrassed that Sabre would have told them about the way he'd been found earlier in the morning and had thus avoided the torment of the relish, that it happened. The chatter that had sprung up as everyone talked over digested what had happened (in rather more ways than one), died away instantly, the attention of everyone focussed on a single entrance into the heart of Haven. Unable to see through the press, Spectre used his telekinesis to lift himself up; with a lurch he saw Sabre stood there, facing down the crowd as Spectre almost saw his fifth-son's cogs turn to say this in the best way possible. As Sabre made ready to speak, a silence so thick it could have been cut up and stacked descended, unnerving him for a second before with a rush, the surgeon announced,

"Sonic's awake".

XXX

Tails heard the words consciously and his instincts took over from there; moving at a flat out sprint even before the echoes had died away, the smaller fox darted forwards and ducked past Sabre. He heard the guardian call him back but too late, he was gone around the corner, his keen nose picking out the trail of sterile, medicinal scents Sabre had left behind him as he walked back from the hospital wing, where Sonic now was. He was able to track it to the source, winding his way through Haven to Sabre's domain; _this is it – hold on bro, I'm coming_. Wrenching the door ahead of him open, Tails took in the scene in an instant; though his back was still heavily bandaged, Sonic stood out like a sore thumb, sitting in a chair at the side of his bed, looking down and facing away from him. A glorious feeling, like he was being buoyed up by lightness, swept up over Tails and he raced forwards, almost tripping over in his haste, as his voice preceded him,

"Sonic, I knew it, I knew it; are you feeling okay, did Sabre…?" _Strange, he's not answering_; the kit shrugged this off as a side effect of being under for so long; it was only when he pulled up level with the hedgehog and looked up that the truth hit him like a hammer. He watched on as Sonic, not moving his eyes, spoke for the first time, gesturing his arm downwards to where Amy still lay sleeping,

"What do you see there Tails?"

He didn't answer; the fox was far too busy trying to come to terms with the fact that this stranger was still his brother; _this is not Sonic, this is someone else_. The voice, so quiet and subdued, was only the final nail in the coffin; it had been the first glimpse of the blue hedgehog's face that had stopped Tails in his tracks. It was a real shock to his system; he had always known Sonic was older than he was, but never had he really given it much thought; if anything, the Sonic he knew looked younger than his seventeen years. Now though, his brother's face was so serious, so ingrained in deep contemplation, that it seemed he had grown far, far older, so much more mature. His eyes too, they had changed; the fire behind them had dampened down to nothing more than smouldering coals, his inner fire and thirst to be the best quelled by something nameless and terrible. As Tails stood still in shock, Sonic turned to face him, the light overhead highlighting every single one of the age lines that before now Tails had never even considered existing on his brother's face,

"What do you see?" Tails swallowed and took a nervous look, flicking his eyes down before choosing his words carefully,

"It, er, it's Amy, she looks like she's asleep doesn't she? Listen Sonic, I know this must be hard and…"

"I see my own stupidity", Sonic cut him off and Tails fell immediately silent, "I'm a fool Tails; a fool who couldn't see what was in front of him the whole time". The kit gave a weak smile and attempted humour,

"Knuckles has been trying to tell you you're a fool for years", he wetted his lips before making his brave effort, "come on, let's get you something to eat".

"I'm not moving". It was a statement; not loud or threatening, but somehow more definite because of that,

"But…"

"I'm not moving" and this time it was final; there was no more room to disagree with. Feeling hurt and confused, the kit backed away slowly, not taking his eyes off the blue hedgehog as he left; Sonic didn't spare him a glance as he quietly shut the door behind him. The fox was about to move when a shadow fell over him; he looked up to see Sabre smiling sadly at him,

"I tried to warn you but I forgot how fast you are".

"What's happened to him?" tears prickled the back of his eyes as Tails prayed inwardly that this was all just a twisted joke, "why doesn't he speak to me like he used to; it's like I was a complete stranger". Sabre heaved a sigh and squatted down,

"Listen Tails, this will be hard; Sonic's just had a really big shock – did you see his face when he asked me where Amy was, just before we saw the explosion", Tails sniffed and nodded, "well then he ran like the devil and if Shadow was right, he was willing to be buried with Amy rather than save himself. What does that tell you?"

"That's just what he's like though", Tails didn't quite grasp the point as he remembered back, "Sonic always runs back to save people".

"Yes, yes I know", a little impatience revved up in Sabre's voice as he tried to make the fox see, "but this time he was ready to die there; Shadow said he had shielded her with his own body. That tells me that he loves her and now, because Amy's still unconscious, Sonic's pining for her; he wants her to wake up and he'll stay there until she does". The surgeon saw the truth filter down into the fox's wide eyes and decided he had to leave it there; he made to move off when Tails' voce stopped him,

"Sabre?" He stopped and turned around,

"Yes?"

"Will they be okay?" Giving a sigh, the surgeon tried to give the best answer he could,

"Amy's strong and young; she's in good health and healing rapidly. I think she'll be waking soon and that'll be the crunch – if Sonic reacts to that, her waking up, I think he'll be fine as well".

"And", the fox's voice was a hoarse whisper, "and if he doesn't react?"

"Don't even think about that; pray that he does"; with that, Sabre left, his mind already filling with dire thoughts about his own third-father's fall into grief as Tails knelt by the hospital door, tears falling to the floor as he whispered a benediction with a child's fervour; _for the love of everything Sonic, please, pull though this_.

XXX

It wasn't something Tails could explain; he had to let the others see for themselves. One by one, the other Mobians went in see the awakened hedgehog; and one by one they came out looking more concerned than they had when they'd gone in.

"I don't get it", Charmy sat down in the hall, Espio and Vector nearby as, like always, the Chaotix had visited their pal as a team, "Sabre must be one of the best doc's I've met and he says she's going to be fine; why's Sonic sitting like doomsday's coming?"

"I don't know Charmy, but we've got to try and break him out of it" Thunderhawk's tone was severe and, for the first time since they'd been in Haven, possibly a little fraught with concern as he glanced surreptitiously at the seat where Sojourner normally took his repose. Locke licked his lips and then offered his suggestion,

"Right, I've got a plan – we leave him for a while, let him see with his own eyes that Amy's still okay, she's getting better, then we try him at dinner time, try to get him to eat. When he's there we can try and talk to him; every minute of contact helps".

It maybe wasn't much, but it was a plan; soon everyone dispersed to do whatever it was they wished to do, but always there was this restlessness, an anticipation that disrupted concentration and drained enjoyment from the tasks at hand. The sauna steam couldn't sink as deeply, the rubber lost its bounce, the dyes became dull and listless, book magic was nullified and katas were unable to hold attention within their twisting routines. The minutes snailed by, each as dreary and depressing as the last, the hands on the clocks barely seeming to twitch as glances were snapped impatiently towards it. Eventually, however, as it always must, time did pass and, after locking Athair in his training room to ensure he couldn't try to sneak a recipe onto the tray Sojourner was preparing, slowly a plot was devised,

"Right, I reckon it aught to be Shadow and Knuckles", Sabre advised, giving his reasons as he tried to put Tails' look of injury out of his clinical mind, "I don't think he can be reasoned with; you're going to have to fight to get him to take something on board. Remember, he has to eat or I'll have no choice but to stick him on a drip".

"That should do it; he hates needles" Shadow quipped gloomily as he hoisted the tray from Sojourner's arms, taking care not to spill any of the soup or the glass of mineral water the fifth-father had prepared. He and Knuckles made to set off,

"I want to come too".

It was Cream; the rabbit twiddled one hand in her ears as she smiled cutely, face blushing slightly as she was suddenly the centre of attention. Clearing her throat, she stuttered slightly as she gave her reasons,

"I, ah, all I want is to check on Rosie; I won't get in any trouble, I want to see she's fine and, you know, talk to here a bit. Is that okay?" The two couriers looked at each other and immediately saw their thought mirrored in each other's eyes; _can you say no to a face like that?_

"Er, sure Cream, you can come; long as you don't mind holding doors open". The rabbit shook her head and darted over to them, falling into step as the duo headed off towards the hospital wing; once they were out of earshot of the others, Shadow dropped his voice and spoke,

"Cream, you haven't seen Sonic since he woke up have you?"

"No, Tails said it was too upsetting". The black hedgehog raised an eyebrow and returned to the matter at hand,

"Well, it will be; just remember that Sonic's under a lot of pressure, so you have to let him get away with a little, er, rudeness?" Again she nodded and, as the door to the hospital area came up, she trotted forwards and pushed it open, letting Knuckles and Shadow precede her before trailing in their wakes towards where the blue hedgehog sat.

XXX

It seemed that this mission was doomed from the start; as they approached, Sonic straightened in his chair,

"I'm not hungry". For a second all three were halted in their tracks before Knuckles tried to brazen it out,

"Ah Sonic, don't say that…"

"I don't want to eat thank you".

"Maybe not but you're going to", Shadow's tone was firm as he positioned himself behind his flatmate's shoulder and offered the tray, "listen, you've gotta keep your strength up or you'll end up back in the bed you just crawled out from".

"With needles in your wrists" Knuckles added wryly Sonic turned and faced them for the first time; Cream let out a small peep of fear as that alien expression bored into her,

"Let them", he extended his wrists, eyes still empty, "I'll stay here, with her". Knuckles closed his eyes as if asking for patience before trying once more to force his obstinate opponent down,

"You can eat here, over there or in the bloody mess hall, just as long as you eat Sonic. Don't act more stupid than you already are". At this, Sonic simply turned back around in his seat, his eyes once more on Amy's prone, sleeping form,

"She can't eat; why should I? I did this to her, it's only fitting that I should…"

"DON'T BE SO BLOODY STUPID!"

It was as though something huge, powerful and possessing a large number of teeth and claws had ruptured some internal barrier and blasted out into her chest; seeing someone she loved almost as much as Rosie treat himself like this and then have the sheer gall to indirectly blame it on her was far, far more than even she could take. Knuckles found himself flailing for balance as Cream shoved past him, marching up to Sonic in a manner so reminiscent of Thunderhawk he was surprised she wasn't glowing green. Jumping up, the rabbit seized Sonic by an ear and dragged his face to hers, nothing soft in her usually loving brown eyes as she hissed right into his nostrils,

"What the hell do you think you are playing at? How can you, Sonic Hedgehog, sit there and let yourself fall apart like this? How do you think Amy's going to feel when she wakes up and sees you sitting there like a half-starved scarecrow; how's she going to react when you say you didn't eat because she couldn't? Nice plan Sonic", Cream dropped back down to the floor and gave a very nasty, ironic round of applause, he face creased into a menacing snarl before she continued, "nice way to make her feel good about herself, but you know what? I don't care about what you think you should do, I'm going to make sure you are in a fit state for when my sister wakes up". Without pause, she span and grabbed the tray Shadow was carrying, easily tugging it from his nerveless hands; Sonic had just enough time to vacate his hands from the table in front of him before Cream brought the tray slamming down with an ear-splitting crash. Without pause, she glared up once more, now looking positively murderous,

"I am going to watch you eat every mouthful of this, and believe me if I hear one cheep out of you", she raised herself to her full height; Knuckles was amazed there wasn't electricity sparking between her ears as she finished her dire proclamations, "I'll call my mother and you'll wish you'd never been born! Now get started!"

Even as her last command still hung in the air, Sonic slowly reached forwards and gripped the spoon on the side of the tray with exquisite care; with tenderness, he dipped it into the soup Sojourner had made and took a reluctant mouthful, Cream's diamond hard eyes tracking every inch of movement. Realising their presence was now definitely surplus to requirement, both the guardian and the ultimate life-form edged towards the door, not taking their eyes of a scene that, fifteen minutes ago, they'd have never believed could have existed. Their last glimpse of the hospital was the small rabbit standing erect with her arms crossed, monitoring the hedgehog's progress with a flinty attitude before she shot them a glare and they hastily slammed the door shut; there was such force and purposefulness behind that last look it was, as Shadow said, a miracle the door wasn't dented.

XXX

The two just stood there stupefied; what had just happened was so far out of the ordinary they just couldn't take it in. Cream shout at someone – it was as if Metal Sonic had started helping old ladies across the road. Neither of them could bring themselves to speak, just stared at each other with looks that yelled out loud incredulity and awe as they watched the door handle, ever so slightly nervous as to what it would disgorge when it was opened once more. Ears straining, Shadow suddenly stiffened; he heard footsteps from the other side and tapped Knuckles, watching intently as the handle slowly twisted and, by nerve-wracking degrees, the door inched open with a slight rattle and clink of cutlery. Balancing the tray on one arm as the opened the door with the other, Cream emerged complete with a spotlessly clean set of plates. The door swung shut and she leant against it wearily,

"Well, that should keep him going for a bit; he should get some sleep soon though, it looks like", it was at this point she must have noticed both her friends looking at her like she was about to sprout fangs and start throwing up pea soup; she cocked her head curiously, "what?"

"Cream", Shadow looked at her in undisguised awe, words failing him as Knuckles shook his head, dreadlocks swaying,

"Never knew you had it in you floppy". It was then she realised what they must have been driving at,

"Oh, yeah, that", she gave a shy, mischievous smile, "I don't like shouting at people like that but ohhh", she stamped her feet crossly, "he makes me so mad sometimes".

"Welcome to my world Cream, I live with him", Shadow broke into a light chuckling fit as he took the tray off her, "it's a show of my self-restraint I haven't buried him in the backyard yet". Now grinning broadly, Knuckles joined in,

"You think he's bad, try living with Rouge for a week; if you don't come out of it with grey hair you can say what you like". Cream smiled at him as they moved off,

"So how come you can?"

"Good hair dye".

"Oh, figures, now what's it worth Ms Rouge doesn't hear that?"

"I don't tie your ears in a knot and chuck you off the side of the island".

"Good deal; I'll take it".

XXX

"I am looking for the fuse", Shadow said as he emerged into the centre of Haven and realised he was getting a few awkward looks due to the fact he was examining the top of Cream's head quite closely, "this rabbit just blew up in Sonic's face; I think she's a faulty model". There was a little general laughter as Cream gave a victory pose, Knuckles holding up the cleared tray for all to see and pointing at her knowingly,

"You got him to eat?" Overwhelmed with gratitude, Tails rushed forward and caught Cream in a tight embrace, whispering into her ear, "you did it Cream; thanks so much". Slightly embarrassed but more concerned with the way the large, scaly thing that had recently clawed at Sonic now appeared to be purring in content, Cream reciprocated the hold,

"Er, no, ah, no problem"; it was at this point a wolf-whistle jerked them both back to the present; they flew apart, both blushing as Shadow clapped the young fox on the shoulder,

"I gotta warn you Tails; she's a real little fireplug, so tread careful on the first date".

"We are not going out!" Both of the younger Mobians chorused, red in the face but smiling crookedly as the others tried with all their might to resist the temptation to make comments. Of course, there had to be one who didn't even bother to try,

"Aw, but you'd make a cute couple", Athair hovered just in front of them and, to their horror and everyone else's secret delight, proceeded to deliver the lecture he'd once given his son, "now, for the first date you need to go somewhere neutral, I'd recommend something like a day trip or a decent walk. Don't go to the cinema, it can get a bit seedy and you don't want to be tarred with that brush, no thank you. Take plenty of extra money just in case and remember, last thing, a peck on the cheek is fine, no frenching first time".

_Kill me, kill me now_; Tails just wanted to shrivel up and die; that had been absolutely tooth-curling and to make matters worse Athair had somehow managed to make every word sound deadly serious. Through the gap in his fingers, he saw everything he had dreaded; Rouge had been forced to turn her back and her shoulders were shaking, Knuckles was leaning on his father and pounding his shoulder, Sojourner had vanished in a flash of green just before he broke down and even Spectre was cracking a smile. With a flaming red face, he rushed forwards, running back to his room with Cream hot on his heels, whistles and clapping like whips of fire on his ego as he tore up the path; _if Sonic ever finds out about that my life won't be worth living._ With that thought, he sped around the corner and was lost to sight.

"Was it something I said?" Athair watched on bemused as everyone looked up at him in disbelief; he merely shrugged as Knuckles fell down at the table and chortled,

"We'll have to say sorry, but that was a peach, I'm sorry".

"leave Tails to me; I'll let his simmer down for a while than get him back in the lab, that ought to take his mind off things" Locke offered, not smiling as much as he glared up at his grandfather, remembering vividly the time he had been treated to such a speech; _well, on the bright side, at least I never had such a big audience_. Once more, the former guardian couldn't help but think about what Athair had done; on the surface he'd just embarrassed two of his friends like there was no tomorrow, but now, as he looked around where everyone was smiling, laughing or trying to deny they were doing either, he realised that in one simple step the flying menace had taken all their minds off the problem of Sonic. _Sometimes_; he regarded his grandfather once more, where he was now hanging from the roof in order to see his dreadlocks and retie a few loose bangles; _I can't tell if you're really mad or if you can see things we can't_.

XXX

The rest of the night passed without great incident, the humour seeming to speed up the flow of time once more until, almost before anyone was aware of it, the time for bed had come. As was his custom and his duty, Sabre was the last to retire for the evening; he had an extra duty first. He wasn't really expecting Sonic to have moved, so the sight of the blue hedgehog sprawled over the table by the side of Amy's bed, where he'd been sat all day, didn't come as a great shock. He was a little concerned that the position might aggravate some of Sonic's wounds and they may bleed in the night, but as he saw there were no speckles of red on the bandages he could see, his instinct told him that was an unlikely scenario. _I don't think it's worth my while to move him_; with that in mind, the surgeon tugged the blanket of the bed Sonic should have been resting in and draped it loosely over his shoulders like a shawl, giving a little extra insulation against the cold of the night.

Out of habit, the echidna concentrated for a second, letting the power of the Master Emerald infuse him and, when he opened them once more, he saw differently. The outlines of the two hedgehogs were still there, but rather than just plain blue and pink, he saw a myriad of colours, each one of the palette dictating something different. Sonic's green back was punctuated by ugly black and red smears, the marks of his injuries, while in his head, the gold glow that showed consciousness was dimmed, tuned down to the level of sleep. _As I expected_; Sabre nodded and turned his eyes towards his other patient; _not what I expected_; he had to take a long, hard look to convince himself his gift was not incorrect; _not what I expected at all_.

The pink hedgehog appeared to be in perfect health from the legs up, however, at about the level of the mid-thighs, the nice normal green was tinged and smudged with different shades of grey. The further towards the feet it was, the darker the stain; the soles of Amy's poor feet were completely black – Sabre well remembered having to cut her free of her boots, the stink of melted plastic acrid in his nose as he had realised the inside of the shoes had fused with the skin. Most of his work had been directed to allow regeneration of these most damaged tissues and, though it had been touch and go for a while, he was fairly confident he had succeeded. It would take time and maybe a little practise, but Amy would walk again. However, her physical condition wasn't what had caught his eye; it was the fact hat the golden thread of her consciousness that had this morning been as thin as dental floss was now almost as wide as a hemp rope. Even as he watched, it rolled around a little, touching different areas of her body as it rolled around like a drugged python. _She's coming back then_; judging the movements only he was privy to, Sabre made an estimate and nodded; withdrawing his power and readjusting for a moment, he silently exited the room, pausing just long enough for one last look and a final plea to the spirit of the Master Emerald that, whatever else may happen, Amy would find Sonic by her side when the time came.

A/N: Last chapter next folks; thanks for sticking it this far, I'm going to make a special effort for the finale.


	31. Chapter 30 The Hardest Words to Say

Chapter 30 – The Hardest Words to Say.

A/N: Here it is; the last chapter of this story; believe me I never intended to write so much, but once I got going I really couldn't stop. As always, thanks to the reviewers who have stuck with me all this time:

HHH – Don't panic, see end of chapter for confirmation of sequel coming! Now point that sequaliser somewhere else; and in the meantime, if you haven't already, read AODAI as some aspects of that could become important in the future.

Proplayer – Just getting to the good bits you are; sorry about the extra detail but I'd just got back from Alton Towers when I wrote those chapters and wanted to get it all down on paper; maybe I overran it a bit. My characters are human I suppose, but I really can't picture them any other way; but what's so disturbing about Vanilla? I made it very plain she's not going out with Shadow; I have plans for him in the future.

TH – (Author and cast watch TH leave; most of the cast is in tears as the Last Post plays in the background. Author quickly brushes away a tear and turns to everyone). Right, you heard the lady; let's make this chapter something special! I want to see you acting 'til you sweat tears and cheek me (author swells up with evil author powers) and I'll write your worst nightmare! (Cast all fall over, praying for mercy and falling over each other to get to their places – Author refused to divulge what the worst nightmare actually is, but trust me – no-one ever goes into the 'classified' folder on his computer. Oh no – not twice).

Komodo – I prefer to chew uranium pellets myself, but anyway, listen up for a second. If you're feeling down, or if you've got a few problems and need to let them out, drop me an e-mail; I'm impartial and believe me I can probably sympathise with most of the things that can go wrong in life. I'll help if I can; if anything, us geeks gotta stick together :-).

_The fight raged on, at times a dance in fire; she swung again and again at the flickering flame, each time it narrowly avoided her punishing swing and leapt up to sting her bare arms. She refused to give in, rushing forwards and driving her faceless adversary back with wide sweeps of her trusty hammer, beginning to see something through the smoke of illusion, something she should not be seeing, something the flame around her leapt up to shield from her gaze._

Within the hospital wing of Haven, there was a shuffling noise as one of the occupants shifted position, twitching under the covers as her dreams led her onwards.

_But see it she had; a great monolith was obscured by the fire, all power flowed from it; with a triumphant snarl, she charged through the flame protecting it, hammer raised to swing and strike…nothing. It had eluded her, and the fire scorched her legs, forcing her to leap backwards._

The feeder tubes clinked gently against the drip tube as the arms they were connected to shuffled, the patient shifting more violently, slight cries now just audible in the still air.

_Several times she ran and was forced to fall back; the fire beating her will to win and beginning to exhaust her strength. She had only the power for one last attack, and it was all or nothing. Slowly, but with swiftly gathering speed, she began to swing her hammer around, mindful of the fire that clustered around her, evaporating the sweat from her brow, so close did it come to her._

The blanket was kicked off, the hedgehog now thrashing around as her mind came to the brink of the barrier between consciousness and dreams.

_The hammer weighed as much as a tree trunk but she swung it still, the fire approaching her now stopping, unsure; too late it heeded her plan, too slow was it to react. With a last effort, the hammer left her hand, arrowing towards that which the fire should have guarded, the hateful idol that had imprisoned her here. The aim was true and her strength was sure; the hammer impacted on the face of the malevolent god; cracks formed and it shattered. Light engulfed her senses, she was carried on a tide, away from her testing ground, back to where she should be…_

Amy's swing was drunken and wild; it was much more by luck than judgement that she failed to hit anything, her hand instead falling to slap the side of the mattress she lay upon. For a second she was blinded still, the great burst of red light all that remained in her vision, until she blinked and, hit suddenly by the scent of disinfectant, sneezed suddenly, covering her nose with one hand as she screwed her face up reflexively. _Ah, that's better_; sniffing deeply, Amy was able to throw off some of the lingering images of that vivid dance she had been a part of and start to concentrate on the present. For instance, she was very curious as to where she was, and why was it dark, but first and foremost there was the very pressing concern as to why her feet hurt, and as they did hurt, why were they covered by thick woollen socks?

It was dark in here; she couldn't see much at all so, being as practically-minded as she was, rather than strain and squint her eyes, she simply sat up and reached forwards, feeling with her fingers even as she tried to remember whatever she could to try and make sense of this scenario. It was as she registered the rough cottony feel of the fabric binding the toes of her left foot that it suddenly hit her, the very simple, very basic and very wonderful truth; _I was fighting Dimitri, and I won! I saved Angel Island!_

An ecstatic smile blooming on her face, Amy Rose let herself fall backwards onto the softest feather bed imaginable as, like a stream of soft, silky bubbles from a popped bottle of the very finest Champaign, a feeling that went beyond elation flowed all the way through her, banishing every bad memory that might have ever haunted her and stilling the niggling pain in her feet as it carried her gently into the waiting arms of sheer heaven. She basked in the triumph she so richly deserved, accepted the plaudits she was due from herself as that truth rang loud and clear all through her very soul. Now was not the time for doubt and concern about such things as where she was or how badly she was hurt, now there was only this internal celebration, of drinking from the jewelled cup of ambrosia the sweet nectar of victory. _Now I think I can understand_; transported as she was by these visions of the hard-fought win, Amy was able to realise something that had thus far eluded her; _that's why Sonic fights so hard, why he risks his neck all the time – it's for this;_ she smiled and wriggled as a fresh surge of this jubilation swept over her; _nothing can beat this feeling._

It could have been seconds or it could have been days; time was immaterial in that nirvana of joy. She allowed her ears to inform her of their knowledge only when she felt she was ready to hear it; she was in total control here, there was nothing outside her grasp, nothing she couldn't do, but, she mused idly as she let herself be titillated further by her memories of victory, the news was interesting and needed some further research. Effortlessly taking a long, deep breath of the sweet air around her, Amy held it for as long as was necessary to make sure. A few inky drops of confusion were added to this sea of contentment; apparently, she wasn't alone here – there was someone nearby, breathing heavily and rhythmically nearby in a pattern she associated with slumber.

She thought and her mind obeyed instantly; there was no resistance of memory in a mind as energised as hers was now. With a single sharp move, Amy brought her hands together in a single clap, shutting her eyes lazily in case she was right. The sudden brightness through her closed eyelids proved she must have been; she simply relaxed there for a minute; _so I'm in Haven – I wonder how I got here_. Still not seeing, she gave a small shrug; that really didn't matter at this moment in time. When she was good and ready, the pink hedgehog blinked her eyes open and looked up; the light was dim, obviously it wasn't meant to illuminate the whole room, merely the immediate area around her. It was then she glanced around to where the breathing had come from; what she saw there managed to siphon away some of her triumph, polluting it with some dull regret as she realised, once more, she'd made Sonic wait for her.

The blue hedgehog was sprawled across the table next to her, the blanket covering his shoulders not quite hiding the bandages that wound around his chest like clean tapeworms. His head was buried in his arms and he was certainly asleep; Amy fought down a giggle as the sudden thankfulness that he didn't snore burst into her thoughts. She was tempted to leave him sleeping still, but no, she couldn't put this off; shifting as far to the left of her bed as she could, she reached up and inched her fingers forwards; it seemed such a long way, but no, she stretched and rekindled her mood of moments earlier; nothing was beyond her reach. Buoyed up by this knowledge, she found her target; her hand enfolded the one Sonic had closest to her and gave a soft squeeze, releasing the pressure after a couple of seconds. The blue hedgehog didn't react, so she tried again; this time he tried to pull away; she strengthened her grip and prevented the escape attempt, smiling slightly at his even unconscious attitude of stubbornness; he really didn't want to wake up. _Sorry Sonic_; her smile widened as she tried a harder hold this time, noticing him begin to stir under the insistent pressure; _I was always more stubborn than you_. With that thought, she gave her most forceful grip yet and felt him pull away, rising upwards as sleep sped away defeated, giving a full yawn as he rubbed his eyes. It was as he stretched out, the soft popping of stiff joints audible in the dimness that she made her introduction,

"Hey Sonic".

XXX

The words ripped apart the veil of still-clinging slumber; he froze, mid-movement, and rolled his eyes down. His brain blocked out the light, his own twinges of pain and the fact that he was stiff as a board; all he saw was Amy, awake and looking up at him, and he just reacted. Leaping up, he skirted around the table and threw his arms around her, heedless of anything else bar her. He embraced ice; he needed her so much it almost hurt to touch her, to sully her pure spirit with the mere presence of his cowardly, unworthy hands, but he couldn't let go, couldn't risk losing her again. Unbidden, words spilled from his lips before he could think of them; words from the heart, unaltered by the conscious mind,

"Amy, you, never scare me like that again; never", his breath hitched uncontrollably, a sharp pain rising to stab him in the chest as he repeated himself, "never". She didn't respond immediately and he was unspeakably grateful; he had a few more priceless seconds with her.

"Ah, um Sonic; I'm sorry, I…" _Never! Never again_; the only thing she could have said, the one thing he knew he could not allow; she should not apologise for his craven mistakes. Leaving her was like tearing himself from an angel's caress, but he did so, he fought his way back and dashed the tears from his eyes, looking at her squarely, tone all at once hurried and sincere,

"No Amy", he took a deep, shuddering breath and dared once more to meet her gaze, the green of his eyes glinting in the dim overhead light, "now it's my turn to say sorry".

XXX

Of all the things she had possibly expected, this had to be if not the least likely, at least one of them; Sonic looked like he wanted to do nothing less than break down and cry, but he didn't let himself; instead, screwing up his face and preparing himself for what looked to her like an act of incredible bravery, he spoke once more,

"First I said to myself it was Eggman; I couldn't say anything in case he found out, nothing more than a convenient excuse to hide my weakness. Then I said the same about Metal; if anything he could be worse than Eggman and you'd be in even more danger. The we all junked him, so what could I do next", his lips spilt into an ugly sneer, leaving Amy confused as to why he was damning himself like this, "easy; I did what I've done all my life; I ran away. I was too stupid to think about what would happen, too blind to see what effect it would have on us all and too wrapped up in my own god-damn sense of image to tell the truth. I lied to myself, I lied to my friends and", he was tearing himself apart as he met her gaze again, tears, so many of them she could hardly have credited he could have shed them, coursing down his face and onto the floor as his voice degenerated to a whisper, "and worst of all I lied to you. And I kept on lying; you offered me so many chances to come clean and I was too much of a coward to take them – I thought my coolness was worth more than your feelings". Amy didn't want to hear any more; Sonic was hitting the self-destruct button right in front of her and she didn't want to see that.

"Sonic, you're not thinking straight; please, no…"

"Oh Amy, can't you see", the blue hedgehog bit down a sob and continued, trying to let her see through his words, the core of what he was saying, "I am thinking straight; for the first time in ages, I'm telling the truth. It took this", he swept an arm downwards to where her bandages gleamed in the light, "to make me see what was in front of me all the time; you nearly", _no, can't say that_; he rearranged his words hastily; thinking of that was too painful, "you could have died without…" he steeled himself, couldn't let himself loose it again; there was something so much more important than his at stake here.

"Sonic…"_ Is this, what I think it is?_ Amy had to fight down her primal ideas, had to see if he had the courage to speak. Hearing her, the blue hedgehog looked up one last time; the image of her ready to die, give up her own life to make sure the Bloodstone would never be found again, suffused him and he realised, compared to that kind of effort, the strength of character she must have shown, this was less than nothing. The struggle ended instantly and, with far greater ease than he had even anticipated, the truth came out at last,

"…Without knowing, I love you".

XXX

_There, I said it_; Sonic let his head fall, knowing with gut-wrenching certainty that everything else was in Amy's hands. She was quite within her rights to throw him out, tell him to never go near her again, and though it would break him apart, he would do so; it was nothing less than he deserved after the way he had callously treated her feelings like rubbish. He heard shifting on the bed but didn't dare look up; he would give her nothing she didn't ask for; not a smile, not a glance, in case she drew offence from it.

"Sonic, come here". Burned hollow with worry, anxiety and doubt, he let his gaze lift, and gasped.

She had drawn herself up into a sitting position, her back resting against the pillow she'd fluffed up on the end of her bed. Her arms were open, wide but crowning all, Amy was smiling; that most special, secret smile that only he could ever see starting to cut though his web of lies to the very heart of the matter. Not sure why she could want him, after all he'd done, he moved forwards nonetheless, creeping closer as Amy shook her head, smile stretching further as she started talking,

"You honestly think I would have run after you the way I did, chased you all over Station Square and done all those things if I believed you really didn't feel anything for me? Sonic, sometimes I don't know if you're totally naive or totally stupid", she let out a tinkling laugh, the jingle of those merry peals of laughter lighting up the darkness that had descended on Sonic's mind as he continued his slow approach, listening intently to every word she said, "I knew you had to feel something for me; listen and think hard – would you have sweated blood to rescue me as often as you did if you really thought I didn't matter? What you just told me isn't new – I've known it for a long time and, let's face it, a fair few of the others have probably caught on as well, Tails especially".

"But…"

"No buts", she said sternly before relaxing again, eyeing up his approach as he slid to the end of her bed and came forwards more, talking all the time to calm his nerves, "as for all that stuff about lying, I don't believe a word of it; no backchat", she said lightly, raising a hand before carrying on, "you have never, ever told me you didn't like me, you've always treated me with courtesy and respect and most importantly as a friend. You couldn't lie outright, it's just not you; you hate hurting people like I do, so you evaded the question, the same way you've evaded everything Eggman's ever been able to dream up and throw at you".

He was close now, so close their noses were almost touching, but still he wouldn't go that extra inch into her waiting arms, still he shied away, unworthy in his own mind. Not even knocked out of her stride, Amy said the final, most compelling piece of evidence she had; the simple facts she had discovered about him all the time they'd been together as friends.

"You've had to be stubborn all your life; you couldn't give up or your enemies would have won, so every aspect of you is geared towards resisting; I realised that when I fell for you, and more importantly I knew the only way to get around that". She smiled again, more broadly as the words sank in; Sonic let his nervousness and worry drain away, defeated by the confidence Amy could never have faked,

"I had to be more stubborn than you; okay, my techniques weren't great and maybe chasing you was a lost cause from the off as I'd never catch up, but I knew I could do it eventually and, well, I guess I did", she looked up at him fully, smiling broadly as she reached out, placing a hand firmly on his arm and leading him inwards; sliding her other arm around his back tenderly due to his injuries, she whispered her three final words into his ear, "I understand Sonic".

XXX

There was no resistance, there was no trying to pull away from this as the scales dropped from the blue hedgehog's eyes; he gave in to her slight tug, let it guide him to a place he needed but had always been blind to; as he let his arms complete his embrace with Amy, he finally knew where he was. This was where he didn't have to fight, where the cares and concerns of being a global icon of freedom and a hero could just waft away on the breeze; here, with this girl in a million, he could just be Sonic Hedgehog, as scared and with the same concerns as the next guy. _And I could ask for nothing more_; he let his head fall on her shoulder and heaved with sobs, the tears feeling good, cleansing and he was not ashamed to see them fall; _because she knows, she understands and doesn't condemn me. Dimitri was right_;

"What?" It was only then he realised he must have been thinking out loud but it didn't matter; not letting go an inch, he just spoke the truth, for it was so much easier than trying to lie,

"I said Dimitri was right".

"You talked to him?" There was slight chuckle through the grief as Sonic spoke again,

"He came to Haven, knocked out everyone bar me and did what someone should have done a long time ago; pinned me up against a wall and made me see what I'd been missing", he felt her arms slide free of his back and likewise withdrew, the look of shock on her face was incredibly funny as he smiled, "yeah, he said you were a girl in a million, and he was right". Amy blinked out the shock and knitted her brows,

"What is it?" Suddenly concerned, Sonic leaned over, breathing a sigh of relief as he saw she looked up and smiled again,

"Nothing, it's just that, I hope he's okay, Dimitri I mean".

There was a very pregnant pause at this as Sonic looked at her expectantly; he personally hadn't given the echidna, or anything else for that matter, much thought, but now he did he rather surprised himself; _much as I hate to admit it, I hope much the same thing_.

"I guess; he had us all in the palm of his hand and still didn't finish us off; he refused to get violent, unless provoked of course".

"Same with me; after he took me back to Station square, he stayed with me a while", the pink hedgehog let her eyes mist over as she saw those few confused minutes again, now a little better positioned to make sense of what the grandmaster had tried to tell her, absolve her of blame, "he tried to say it wasn't my fault; could you imagine Eggman doing something like that?"

"Not in a month of Sundays" Sonic agreed; Dimitri was an enigma and that was for sure, but he didn't want to think about what had just happened; wanted to get as far away from that area as was possible. Speaking the first words that came into his head to disrupt his melancholy thoughts, he said,

"So, where do we go from here?" Amy goggled at him for a minute before a devilish smile broke across her face; _time to let him in on a couple of ideas_…

XXX

As the two hedgehog talked and joked on in Haven, another reunion was about to take place; since Dimitri had interred himself within Central Dogma, his grandchildren had been unable to concentrate on the orders they'd been set; though they were making progress, it was nowhere near enough and they were still some way off freeing the remainder of the Dark Legion. The still air of Necronopolis was rent with a crash as Kragok, snarling with impatience, brought his fist crashing down on the computer he was having to use,

"Blasted machine; if the guardians attack now we're history; we have to get these things to go faster". Looking up, agitated by her brother's frequent temper tantrums, Kommissar wiped a trail of oil from her leather top and barked back crossly,

"They're old Kragok; this is as fast as they can go. If we push them any faster they may go down all together and that's the last thing we need; it took me four hours to break that shut down clause, I am not doing it again if I can help it", she span around to face back to her computer screen, tapping at the keyboard irritably, being forced to think of words that didn't include the letter Y as the keyboard had that tooth missing. She was so engrossed in her work that she only flicked her eyes up briefly when a shadow fell over her from the front; she didn't really see who it was and spoke out of habit,

"No Kragok, I don't want anything".

"Good"; the mechanical rumble was not her twin's voice; freezing in her seat as the bass tone rolled over her, she slowly looked up again at the speaker, just about holding in a scream of panic at the monster in front of her.

It looked like nothing less than a tank on two legs; two mighty hands the size of dustbin lids flexed together with a mechanical whine as the red LED eyes winked and flashed. _But_; she was in a fine tizzy as the beast looked down at her;_ what is it? I'm dead_. She shut her eyes, preparing for the worst before she heard Kragok's voice, stiff and formal as always, speak out,

"Grandmaster Dimitri; your orders?" _Grandmaster?_; looking up again, the female echidna's eyes bulged out as she took in details fear had hidden from her; the way this machine had dreadlocks and was cut into the template of an echidna, albeit much larger and seemingly stronger than the average. Unable to stand due to her trembling knees, she could only watch mutely as the machine's head raised to confront her brother's and the computerised growl sounded again,

"Carry on Lord Kragok"; he saluted and turned back to his work as Kommissar finally managed to get her mouth moving once more,

"Great-grandfather?" She was once more under the gaze of those red eyes and was struck dumb again, unable to speak as his patience must have run out,

"What Lien? I have little time to waste".

"The, the Central Dogma?" She stuttered and pointed a trembling finger; the armoured echidna gave a nod and set his hands on the swivel joint of his hips,

"Yes, this is the last release from the jaws of death; the body of steel to blunt the scythe, but it is not yet perfected", he pointed at her, the glow of his eyes maybe dimming as his tone became softer, "the emotion programmes are absent; we require your work in that field; I am whole now only because of my enlightenment, another would be shut off forever, lost within the complexity of their immortal state. Now, we have the Legion back?"

"Er, no, no not yet", aware of his now more unnerving gaze on her, she forced her eyes down to the console, "there have been difficulties, but we…"

"Overcome them", he said brusquely moving around to stand behind her, the floor trembling with each step his new metal form now took, "we must get our full strength back soon; the Bloodstone is lost and that is a crippling blow, but we can get past that eventually". As he said that, Kragok stepped to his side and spoke insinuatingly,

"Once we have the full force of arms back, should we not hope to even the score?"

"Explain".

"The guardian is not infallible", Kragok pointed out, "a squad or two of drones and we could capture the Master Emerald, replace our lost strength as the Chaos Siphon could be rebuilt". The robotic shell Dimitri was now encased in and bonded to could not smile, but instead clapped the younger male on the shoulder, almost buckling his knees due to the extra weight.

"A good plan in theory Kragok, but I fear not; the runes protecting the Master have returned to full power and, though I saw the hated green whilst I was with Amy, I did not see it with my own eyes. Thus, I don't know where the shrine is. Besides, most of our drones were lost within base alpha; we must conserve whatever we can salvage and, on top of all that, my bargain with Amy remains".

"You still hold to that?" Kragok looked outraged, his mechanical eye blazing away in a red slit as he answered, "grandmaster, after what she did to you, sundering the Bloodstone, surely she…"

"…Is still alive as am I; while that is the case, our pact is intact", the tone was final, there was no arguing any more. Kragok bowed his head respectfully and spoke once more,

"As you wish, grandmaster Dimitri".

"Ah, yes, both of you", Kommissar turned in her seat to regard the robot as he made plain a decision he'd come to within the room of the Central Dogma, "I believe it would be wise to let the guardians believe I did not survive the conflict; I wish to, as it were, fake my own death. Therefore, from now on, address me as", there was no smile on the fixed features of the steel face, but both the twins knew their great grandfather must have been smiling as he gave them his new name,

"Enerjak". Without a word, both nodded and went back to their tasks; there was still much work to be done.

XXX

Their conversation ranged from distant memories of the past to all sorts of wonderful, far-flung ideas for the future; tiredness fled from them both as they fed upon each other's nearness, a closeness that neither wanted to break again. It was only when a third voice intruded that they both realised how long they had been alone together,

"Well, well", Sabre was stood in the doorway of the hospital, a politely puzzled expression on his face as he nonetheless smiled at the pair of them, "once more you defeat my knowledge of medicine Ms Rose; I expected you to be out for far longer than a mere day and part of a night. Are you both feeling up to scratch?" Looking down, Sonic gave Amy the nod and she answered in a slightly strained tone,

"Well, the thing is about my feet; how bad is it?"

"Bad, but it could be worse", Sabre was quick to reassure her as he walked up casually, taking to clipboard off the end of the bed and making a couple of causal notes upon it, "you'll need bed rest for today and tomorrow, then if all is well, we can get you walking again. I'll need time alone with you of course, but not now. And you Sonic?"

"Nothing wrong with me", he got to his feet, only to pause hurriedly in an undignified half-crouch as pain sheeted up his back; he was very still for a minute before grimacing, "except that". He couldn't turn around, he could only hear the surgeon's voice as he felt something take hold of a handful of his back spikes,

"So I see; you've been sat in one place too long; brace yourself, this might sting a bit; on three. One…"

"Er, what are you doing?"

"…Two…" Sonic felt a gentle hand placed on his injury and made to squirm out the way,

"Hey, hold it; I wanna know what…"

"Three!"

It was an old trick, but it still worked; simultaneously, Sabre pulled back with the high grip and pushed forward with his lower hand, the antagonistic motions forced Sonic to straighten out. Amy cringed as there was a long crunch and a thin, piping wail of pain, not unlike a steam whistle, from Sonic's rictus grin of torment,

"Urgh, I heard that".

"Believe me", even his voice had been shot into the stratosphere by that holistic treatment, "it was even more painful than it sounded. Ow".

"Oh stop moaning", Sabre moved to stand by Amy's bed and looked at the blue hedgehog sternly, "now, I'm giving you permission to leave the hospital, but no running; walking only. Got it?"

"Anything to stop that happening again", Sonic muttered before raising his voice, "fine; now what do you want to eat Ames?" The pink hedgehog shuffled back under her blanket and folded her arms behind her head, face smug,

"Ohh, breakfast in bed; just something light, toast maybe, oh, and I can have visitors right?" When Sabre nodded, she smiled at Sonic again, "let them know…"

"Already ahead of you; they'll be here before you know it. See you in a while Ames". With that and a last, deeply felt look, Sonic was gone.

XXX

It was all different now; somehow, Sonic knew he was lighter than he had been before, and more importantly he knew why. _Because I told the truth – guilt's a heavy burden to carry_; the blue hedgehog smiled unstoppably as he was denied the ability to skip only because of his bad back. He knew where he was going without really thinking about it; in no time at all, he was within earshot of the main hall, and a couple of seconds later, he stood framed in the doorway. Almost instantly the hubbub died away and he was left in a silence so oppressively heavy and expectant he almost felt it press on him. He took a second just to stretch the tension out a tiny fraction more, inwardly chuckling as Vector unintentionally mangled a spoon by clenching his fist, waiting for his words. With a smile, he started,

"Amy's ready to see you all now".

XXX

He fully expected a rush, but what followed wasn't exactly a rush; stampede would perhaps be a more appropriate term as bedlam exploded. Food was forgotten, seats tumbled over and bodies pressed against each other as everyone made full speed towards the hospital, all obstacles ignored or overcome as they raced to greet the hero of the hour. Somehow Sonic stood against this tide as it flowed around him, only Tails, swept up in the excitement, paused long enough to hug his brother tightly and whisper his tearful thanks that he had broken free of his depression before running with the tide again, swallowed up in the sea of running bodies. In a few seconds, Sonic stood alone, a strange, wistful expression on his face as he realised he alone had been present when she awoke; _I thought I had it bad – imagine having to wait until morning to find out, for Sabre to tell me_. He moved forwards slowly, not hurrying unduly as he reached for a spare plate; there was so much untouched food around it was relatively easy for him to quickly fill up a tray for Amy to feast upon when she was ready to eat. Quickly analysing what he had, the blue blur reached for a pot of marmalade, only to see it being offered to him. Shaking his head as he took it, he just had to ask,

"How does someone so red stay so well hidden?"

"Practise", Knuckles said shortly before stepping in and doing something Sonic had never expected the tough-hearted guardian to do; with no witnesses and no inhibitions, the echidna embraced him briefly. It was such a shock to the system Sonic was dumbfounded; as Knuckles let go, all he could do was blink and stare like some obsessed goldfish.

"I saw it in your face, the second you came in", Knuckles continued conversationally, adding a little more butter to the side of the tray, "I reckon I was the only one who could; you have to have been there to see it properly. You two finally…?"

"No, I finally", Sonic corrected him, "I finally saw the truth Knucks; she's the one".

"Oh right", Knuckles hadn't expected the hedgehog to be so forthright about it; that didn't stop him taking the golden opportunity though, "can I be best man?" He received a withering glance in response, though fortunately both Sonic's hands were full, so he couldn't try to slap him for his cheek. With a heft, Sonic turned and headed for the door,

"Coming, she'll really want to see you there?" Knuckles shook his head,

"No, not yet; Spectre wants a word, but tell her I won't be long".

"Sure thing Knucks; see you in a bit". As Sonic turned away, the echidna took a different exit, to where the rest of the Brotherhood awaited the return of their youngest to complete their circle and turn their minds to the judgement.

XXX

"Like I said", Amy spoke thickly though a mouthful of warm toast a little while later, "I was just upset and wanted to stop him, but I couldn't kill", her eyes darkened for a minute, the memory of that reckless rage thundering through her was sore; for one mad half-second she had been tempted, so sorely tempted, to finish him forever, but she hadn't been able to follow through with the fatal blow. Seeing the change in her face, Espio nodded as if that had been explanation enough and moved backwards a touch, letting Rouge slip into the gap, though she paused at Amy's gasp,

"What happened to you?" The bat gingerly fingered her bruise and sent a nasty glance Sonic's way,

"Ask the hedge-head over there, but anyway it's not important", the bat sat down carelessly on the end of the bed and smiled saucily at the pink hedgehog, "you scarlet woman; I'll never be able to look at you the same way again after that little lip-lock. How did you know it would work anyway?" Amy blushed and her eyes flicked to Sonic before she answered,

"Well, I wasn't sure at first, but I remembered what he'd said about the Bloodstone being part of him. I thought that must be why he could drain power from it at long range, and as I could touch the Bloodstone and go hyper, I thought I could try the same with him". The bats' smile widened,

"Oh right I see; was he a good kisser?" There was an outburst of outraged hissing and booing, Shadow reaching over to cuff the bat lightly on the back of the head; seeing this and reminded of their words last night, Amy sat up a bit straighter and looked over at the black hedgehog,

"Shadow?"

"Yeah?" Amy beckoned him forwards,

"Sonic told me last night; you saved both of us with your Chaos Control". The former ultimate life-form squirmed at this as he moved forwards, trying not to sound boastful as he gave a small bob of the head,

"Well, yeah; couldn't have just left you there could I?" He gave a weak laugh, then started as Amy leaned over and took hold of his hand, looking him square in the eye and speaking sincerely,

"Are you feeling all right about it?"

"I made a few notes in my diary, but not much has come back", he replied softly, head down as he tried to make this as positive as possible, "I remember something about making everyone happy, but not really anything else. But it's a breakthrough, and if I have enough of them, I'll break this amnesia for good".

"That's the way Shads", Amy gripped his larger hand with both of her own and smiled deeply; Shadow felt the blood rise in his cheeks and was marginally grateful when there was a very indiscreet cough from Charmy. The two hedgehogs broke apart as the crowd of Amy's friends parted before the ethereal hands of the newly arrived Brotherhood.

It was a fairly intimidating sight; all of the Brotherhood, Knuckles included, were marching forwards towards Amy's bed, the looks on their faces as grim and sombre as the clothes they wore. Even Athair was unadorned with the cheery wrappings many had come to think of as part of his body, and to top it all off he was walking as well. It was a silent procession than ended only when Spectre, at the head as the eldest, reached the edge of Amy's place of residence. Despite her good mood, even she couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive; the seventh-father could certainly look imposing when he wanted to.

"Amy Rose", his voice was low and solemn, "you have committed a crime against the Brotherhood of such magnitude that the whole of Angel Island was placed in jeopardy". While there were howls of protest from everyone present, Sonic especially telling the black echidna in no uncertain terms where to sling his hook, Amy didn't drop her eyes from his face and caught the tiny twitch of his lips an the way his eyes were still smiling despite his cold voice. _Time to play along methinks_;

"I know", she lowered her head, thinking of the most unhappy things she could to avoid spluttering with laughter and giving the game away, "I set Dimitri free and then delivered him to the Bloodstone once more".

"Too right you did", Thunderhawk broke in sternly, fighting harder than she was to keep the play going; it was working a treat if the furious protests of everyone else was anything to go by, "and you assaulted a guardian in doing so". Amy let her head fall into her hands, hiding her face as her shoulders heaved with laughter; Cream had been so overcome with a sense of injustice that she had bounded up on the bed, interposing herself bodily between echidna and hedgehog, shouting violently at Spectre to back off. Perhaps realising the time for games was over, the eldest guardian raised his hand, waiting for silence which took a few minutes to fall. When he was satisfied you could have cut up and stacked the tension in the room, he spoke once more.

"Had you merely survived, it would have been enough", Rouge was glaring daggers at him now, having seen what was going on by the softer tone of Spectre's voice, though before she could voice her protestations he had carried on, "but to come back, to have realised your strength and face him once more; an act of courage unparalleled by any guardian since Edmund himself". The ebony guardian fell silent once more as Athair stepped forwards, face once more beaming as Amy felt a hot little worm of guilt slither around inside her; se had hurt him after all.

"And you let our great-uncle go; that was a really brave and noble thing to do", the hyper third-father bounced on the balls of his feet, looking at the ceiling as though sizing it up; Amy felt compelled to make a bit of a point here,

"Well, he did help me as well, I couldn't just…"

"We know Ames", it was Knuckles this time, the current guardian smiling as he stepped forwards, "we know, and because of that, there's only one thing we can do". Without another word, the youngest of the Brotherhood dropped to one knee, sinking his right fist into the ground, head lowered in a gesture of deference as around him, his family echoed the salutation. Even Spectre, ancient as he was, struggled down to his knees despite Amy's protestations that this was all unnecessary; she didn't want to be thanked for saving friends, they'd have all done the same for her.

"The Brotherhood of Guardians is eternally in your debt Amy Rose; should you need us, we are yours to call upon and if it is within our power, we will aid you".

"And there's not much beyond their power", Athair said cheerfully from the floor, "I'm not a guardian remember?"

"Right, well, umm", Amy really wasn't sure what she wanted first, until a twinge in her legs informed her of a potentially good start, "well you can all stand up", they did, "and Sabre, could you…?" The surgeon was already way ahead of her,

"Not a problem Amy; everyone out, I've got bandages to change", he ordered the room at large. Without further ado, all bar the doctor and his patient were left; as soon as they were out of earshot, the Brotherhood was pounced on for leading everyone on like that; Sonic in particular venomous about this; Knuckles later confided to Rouge privately that he'd never thought a hold like that had been even physically possible – it was only when she offered him a massage that he began to make a miracle recovery from the blue hedgehog's stranglehold.

XXX

Time passed beautifully for Amy as everyone kept popping in and just whiling away the hours with her; she was never lonely as honeyed hours lapped around her. In fact it was only when Sonic reappeared in the doorway, holding a tray, that she realised it must have been getting on a bit. A delicious scent wafted over to her and she licked her lips expectantly,

"Wow, smells divine; what have you got there master-chef?"

"I'm not sure, but as Vector was eating it with gusto before I left, I assume it tastes good" Sonic answered promptly, causing her to laugh a little,

"Vector has a cast iron stomach; he's a crocodile for goodness sake, but I'll trust you on this". She watched as the blue hedgehog set her meal down in front of her and made to dig in; it was only then she noticed he had two trays in his hands.

"Eating here?" She was surprised by this, and even more so when he nodded,

"Yeah, getting a bit hectic in there now, especially with Athair trying to persuade Spectre to let him do afters", Sonic shuddered as his stomach made plain it hadn't forgotten the last time he'd seen Athair's cooking, "I'm in here for my own safety as much as your pleasure". Amy scowled playfully as she picked up her knife and fork,

"Well I can deal with that".

They dug in without another word, eating hungrily with no real time for words; it was only when Amy had cleared her plate and reached for her dessert that she suddenly paused, thought for a second and then, realised she could be onto a winner here, let out a sputter of laughter,

"What's so funny?"

"I can't believe Rouge", she began, holding onto her bowl of custard as Sonic nodded and agreed with her,

"Half the time neither can I".

"Calling me a scarlet woman", Amy carried on, keeping half an eye on Sonic's reaction, "I did what I had to do to win; and how am I supposed to tell if Dimitri's a good kisser or not?"

"What?" Sonic raised a curious eyebrow and Amy snapped her trap,

"Well, that was only my second kiss"; Sonic finally cottoned on and grinned nervously,

"Oh"; realised what she'd been fishing for, he sidled a little closer, tensing himself up as Amy smiled shyly herself. He gently placed his hand on her shoulders and leaned in; Amy could feel his breath ruffling the fur on her cheeks before some priceless words were whispered,

"Was his better than mine?"

XXX

"Hi Amy"; she looked up to see Athair peeking his head around the door, "can, er, can I come in?" She beckoned and in he floated, looking a little pensive as she waited for the question he knew he was dying to ask. All was quiet for a minute before, after looking closely at her face, he twiddled his thumbs and finally snapped,

"Not meaning to snoop, but, er, is there any reason why Sonic walked past wearing a custard bowl like a hat, and how did you get custard on your nose?" Amy simply smiled sweetly and answered in a frank voice,

"Well I told Sonic I'd only ever had two kisses, and he asked me if he was a better kisser than Dimitri; that's how he ended up with my dessert in his hair".

"Right, that makes sense; and you?"

"After I'd done that, he mentioned he might have deserved that and we kissed, I guess he had some custard dribbling down his snout that ended up on mine". She brought her hand up to wipe it off as Athair beamed, well remembering his first youthful courting games, chuckled a little before suddenly sobering up,

"Any reason you can think of why he hasn't taken it off yet", as Amy shrugged, the flying guardian simply sighed and threw his hands in the air, heading for the door, "I guess some people are just plain nuts". With that he was gone.

Amy bottled it up until she was sure her favourite guardian was well out of earshot before throwing her head back and letting the best medicine of all flow through her unchecked in an almost dangerous dose;_ we might well be mad_; she managed to think when she wasn't howling with laughter;_ but at least Sonic and I'll make it to the asylum together!_

A/N: So it ends, this tale of heroism, sadness, love between friends and honour between enemies. But it is not the end; coming soon, the next step in this journey – great joy will clash with sacrifice as someone returns in a way you've never seen her before. Soon it will begin; Iron Skin, Golden Heart.


End file.
